


Of Love and Roses

by Usami_chan13



Series: Roses [2]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime), Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Manga), Code Name: Sailor V, Sailor Moon - All Media Types, YuYu Hakusho
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-29
Updated: 2012-05-29
Packaged: 2017-11-06 05:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 45,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/415341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Usami_chan13/pseuds/Usami_chan13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A floral symbol sacred to Venus and signifying love, the quality and  nature of which was characterized by the color of the rose." ~ The  Dictionary of Christian Art</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea one day when I was looking through one of my old crossovers, and I remembered a picture I saw of Yusuke and Usagi getting married, in honor of Yoshihiro Togashi and Naoko Takeuchi's marriage. But as cute as that was, it didn't feel right since Yusuke and Usagi both have people who they love. So after thinking about which characters would work well and unite the two universes, I decided to pair my two favorite characters from each instead.

"Oi," Yusuke suddenly said, swiping a periodical off a rack as they passed by the stand. "What is this?"

Both Kuwabara and Kurama paused and turned back to look at the raven-haired teen who fell behind, focused intently on the item in his hand. "That would be a magazine," Kurama replied, the playful tone just barely hidden in his alto voice.

"Geez, Urameshi, I didn't know you were _that_ stupid," Kuwabara added with a smirk.

Yusuke glared at the two, waving the publication in front of them. "I know what _this_ is," he retorted. He flipped the magazine over and shoved the front cover into their teasing faces. "I meant _this_."

As Kurama took the magazine from the other, Kuwabara looked over the fox's shoulder at the darkened picture of a city street; in the back, barely out of the reach of the street lamp stood five silhouetted figures just before they disappeared. At the bottom of the page, the golden letters read in bold, "A Real Sailor Moon Sighting?"

"Oh, I've heard of her," Kuwabara said, taking the publication from the older teen. "Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi in Tokyo. They've been getting pretty popular out here too, I guess."

"Okay, back up a second," Yusuke said, holding up his hands. "Who and the what?"

"Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi," Kurama repeated as Kuwabara handed the magazine back to him. Showing the picture to Yusuke, he continued, "Sailor Moon first appeared a few years ago, shortly after you left for the Makai, and the other Sailor Senshi appeared sometime afterwards. There have been many people who question about their existence, but many more who claim to have actually seen these mysterious female warriors."

"They're supposed to stand for love and justice, or something like that," Kuwabara added, sliding his hands into his pockets. "And they all wear sailor suits and are named after planets."

"Planets?" Yusuke said, taking the periodical again.

The red-haired fox nodded. "The most well-known ones are Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, and of course Sailor Moon. They say she's the most powerful of the Sailor Senshi and is responsible for saving Tokyo and the world on more than one occasion."

The Spirit Detective scoffed, placing the magazine back on the rack. "Yeah? Then I'd like to see them do what we do…"

As the three continued their way down the street, Kurama said, "Actually, Yusuke, there were some strange things happening in Tokyo while you were away."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Kuwabara interjected. "Monster attacks, people losing energy, all these weird structures suddenly popping up and then disappearing…"

"Huh…" Yusuke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What'd Koenma say about all the weird things going on over there?"

"Not much," Kurama replied. "Botan came and told us one day that Koenma was aware of all the things going on, but that it was already 'being taken care of'."

Yusuke suddenly laughed, elbowing Kurama in the torso. "Guess you better be careful while you're over there in Tokyo, huh?"

The redhead chuckled softly. "I think I'll be all right. Besides, I've heard that things have been pretty quiet over in Tokyo for the past year, and the Sailor Senshi haven't been seen as much."

"I still can't believe you're moving to Tokyo," the tallest one jumped in, deciding to steer the topic away from crime-fighting girls in sailor outfits. "What happened to your job at your step-dad's company?"

"Well, things were going pretty well over there," Kurama replied with a shrug, "but I never did plan to work there forever."

Yusuke grinned. "The fox getting a little restless?"

Kurama continued as though he hadn't heard the other's comment. "Besides, my mother thought it would be nice if I went to college, and the university over there is one of the best. Tokyo's not too far away."

"Only about half a day's travel," Kuwabara retorted. "But how did you get a teaching job if you haven't even started at the university yet?"

"The high school I'm working at is experimenting with a new teaching method that will hopefully help students who are having trouble. They hope that by having two different teachers lecturing during the week, it will help the students understand the material in a different way."

Kuwabara frowned a little. "It doesn't sound like a very good idea to me."

"I didn't think so either," Kurama admitted with a shake of his head. "But when they asked for me to help teach history, it seemed an appropriate way to support myself over there. And since I'm only working every other day, it fits well with my schedule of classes at the university."

"Of course they'd ask you to teach history," Yusuke remarked, "since you're _so_ good at it and everything."

The faint trace of a smirk touched the redhead's lips. "It helps that I'm studying history at the university, as well."

"So what's the name of this school you're teaching?" Yusuke wondered, folding his arms behind his head as they continued walking.

"Azabu Juuban. I'm not sure how long I'll be teaching, though, since the dual teaching method is only in the experimental phase."

"Well, you gotta let me know how the university's like," Kuwabara said. "I'd like to see if I can get in there after I graduate."

"And let us know when you get settled," Yusuke added. "It might be kinda fun to visit. Though it might be a little dangerous with all of us over there…" He snickered. "We might get in trouble with the Sailor Senshi."

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "Urameshi, do you really have to bring them back up?"

"What?" the raven-haired youth asked with as much innocence as he could fake. "I think it's kinda cool that some girls are stepping up and helping save the world."

"I just find it a little hard to believe, that's all."

Yusuke let out a loud snort. "You've fought against and alongside demons, and you're sensitive to spirits and such, and you're finding _this_ hard to believe?"

Kurama listened to the debate between Kuwabara and Yusuke as best as he could, but his attention eventually drifted away. He could tell that Yusuke doubted their existence as well, though not for the same reasons as Kuwabara did. He wondered what either one of them would say if he told them that _he_ believed that the stories about them were true.

Although he still couldn't help but wonder. Though he certainly believed that these girls were real, they couldn't possibly be the _same_ , could they? It was so unlikely. The legends all told that they had been killed thousands of years ago.

When the Silver Millennium was destroyed.

No…perhaps these Sailor Senshi were not the same warriors that existed during that time. But then, what were the odds? Beautiful warriors, guarded by the planets of the names they bore…He knew the legends rather well, but it still seemed doubtful.

Then again, he knew it was possible to return from the dead.

A small smile graced his expression as his friends' conversation returned to the front of his interest. Perhaps his trip to Tokyo would be more interesting than he originally thought.


	2. Chapter 1

"Man!" Minako exclaimed as she sprinted down the sidewalk. "I can't believe how late it is! Mom is _soooo_ gonna kill me!" She shot a glare at the white cat that ran beside her. "Why didn't you come and get me sooner, Artemis?!"

"Hey, I tried!" Artemis defended. "It wasn't my fault that you and the girls wanted to finish that movie!"

"Well you don't expect us to just leave in the _middle_ of it, do you? We _had_ to see how it ended!"

"Well, let's just hope your mom thinks that's a good enough reason for getting home so late!"

Minako gave an exaggerated sigh, glad that it was dark and late enough that there was no one else around to see her arguing with her cat. Looking at her wristwatch, she winced and hoped that her parents were asleep so she could sneak in without getting caught. Though she felt it wasn't likely, she could still hope.

'Maybe they'll believe we were still studying and just lost track of time,' she thought. It was the reason she was still out in the first place; as they often did, the group got together to study at Makoto's apartment so Amy could help them with any problems they had with homework. That's what they had done at first, but then just as they were wrapping up the study session for the day, Usagi found a romantic movie on television that just had to be watched.

Ami and Rei had returned home shortly after that, but she, Usagi, and Makoto decided to finish the movie and see how the heroine would win back her lover. The movie turned out to be a tragedy, when the heroine died before she could tell her lover how she truly felt, but it was such a worthwhile movie anyway.

Except it lasted for _much_ longer than she expected it to, and she knew that if her mother caught her out this late, _she_ was going to die as well.

She suddenly heard Artemis give a loud screech, and just as she looked down at him curiously, she felt herself crash hard into something. Caught off guard, she recoiled and fell back, landing harshly on her back. Her schoolbag clattered to the ground, spilling all of its contents onto the pavement.

"Are you all right?" a low, soft voice asked suddenly.

"Ow…" she muttered her reply, pushing herself up on one elbow and reaching up to rub the back of her head with her free hand. Opening her accusing eyes, she looked up at the one she was sure she ran into. "Say, why don't you watch where you're…?" The anger died on her lips as the figure stepped under the streetlamp.

The figure's crimson hair seemed to shine as he stood under the light, flowing down behind his back and standing out brightly against his white collared shirt. His blue slacks rustled softly as he knelt down beside her, and she saw the concerned frown on his handsome features. Looking up into his sparkling emerald eyes, seeing them watching her curiously, she felt heat rising to her face.

"I'm so sorry," the man said softly, offering his hand to her. "I should have been more careful where I stood."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, her mouth suddenly dry as she shook her head. "N-no…it was my fault," she managed to say, placing her hand in his warm, gentle one. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

She gasped softly when he lifted her to her feet so easily. "You're not hurt, are you?" the man wondered.

She shook her head again. "No, I'm fine."

A small smile appeared on the man's lips, and Minako felt her knees suddenly weaken. "That's good," he said. Then looking at the ground, he knelt down again and began to gather her scattered belongings.

"Oh, here, I've got it," she said, kneeling down and gathering some of her books as well. Picking up her schoolbag, she stuffed whatever she could into it. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Thanks."

"It's no problem," he replied, straightening some of her loose papers. "But it's rather late, isn't it? You should be careful walking alone at this time of night."

She felt herself blushing again, taking her things as he offered them back to her. "It's okay. I'm almost home anyway." As the sentence left her lips, she gasped and looked at her watch.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Now I'm even _later_ than I was! Mom's gonna be _furious_!"

As the stranger rose to his feet questioningly, she snatched whatever books and papers he was holding and dashed past him down the street. "I-gotta-get-going-now-thanks-for-the-help-sorry-I-ran-into-you-bye!" she yelled as she ran.

Artemis, just as confused as the redheaded stranger, ran to catch up with her. Once he thought they were out of earshot, he said, "Well, don't count on your mom being asleep after that, because that probably already woke up the whole neighborhood."

"Shut up, Artemis," Minako snapped, looking at her watch again. "Man, how could something like that take up _so much_ time?!"

Glancing over her shoulder, she could just make out the outline of the figure still standing under the streetlamp as she continued farther away from him. 'But it was worth it,' she thought with a smile. 'He was _so_ cute!'

* * *

The bolt of the lock clicked softly, and Kurama slowly opened the door and entered his new apartment. His eyes scanned the residence through the darkness, closing the door behind him and heading past the small foyer and into the bedroom.

The entire apartment was rather bare, equipped with only a sparse amount of objects that he would immediately need and some furniture. The rest of his things were arriving the next day (or rather, later today), and he could only hope that they would come _after_ the school let out for the day.

"Cutting it rather close," he murmured to himself as he sat on the narrow bed, running pale fingers through his crimson mane. He had arrived in Tokyo only a few hours ago, and had spent most of the time putting away the few things he had brought with him before finally going to find the school he'd be teaching at the next day.

Normally he would have been more prepared than this, and had actually planned to arrive a week ago in order to situate himself and settle in before he needed to start teaching. But Hiei's surprising visit had thrown off all his plans, and the news of sudden unrest in the Makai was enough to delay his trip for a few days.

No one knew quite who the demons were or what their purpose was, but the stir they were causing was noticed by many. So far, nothing too serious happened, yet if Hiei was concerned enough to find them and tell them, then it could possibly be a problem in the future. They were told to be ready…just in case.

They spent the little time left making plans; coming up with ways to contact him quick enough if something happened, thinking of ideas for him to travel fast enough to get back there…Juggling that with preparations for his move to Tokyo and making up excuses for why he hadn't left yet kept him busy enough. Before he knew it, the scheduled time for him to start teaching was close enough that he couldn't stall any longer. The only means of normal contact with him was by cell phone until he could get a landline service connected in his apartment. But they hadn't quite figured out how he would get back. The most direct bullet train still took five hours to make the trip from here and back, and there weren't many ways to shorten that time.

Kurama sighed softly and shook his head. He'd think of something eventually.

Turning so that he sat more on the bed, he leaned back a bit to open the window and let some air in. As he did so, however, he winced a little when something in his back pocket dug into him. Quickly opening the glass pane, he then sat upright and reached into his pocket, pulling out the golden crescent-shaped object.

He was returning from a brief exploration of the vicinity when he ran into that girl. He had sensed her coming, but her speed surprised even him and he hadn't reacted fast enough before she ran into him. As brief as their collision was, it was enough for him to detect an energy that coursed through her, alerting him that there was something…different about this girl.

Though she hadn't been paying attention, he still felt at fault for standing in the dark that way. So it only made sense for him to help gather her effects. She seemed to be in a hurry, though, and she took her things and left in a quick flurry of words and movement. He had watched her leave for a moment, a little uneasy that a young girl would travel alone at night like that. But as she grew farther away, and though he thought he heard her talking to someone as she left, he was distracted when he felt a small vibration on the ground beside him.

The crescent object rested on the pavement where the girl had landed, and he realized that it must have dropped from her person when she fell. Looking at the article, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something strange about it. But he managed to ignore it as he wondered how he would get it back to its owner.

The uniform she wore indicated she was possibly in high school. Maybe she was…?

When he bent down to pick up the item, he felt the vibration again against his palm, and the feeling returned tenfold. He could sense that magic lay dormant underneath the golden gadget.

Fingering the design carved into the crescent, Kurama carefully examined the object until his fingers found what he needed to know; at the tips of the crescent were small hinges, and in the middle of the rounded outside was a small latch. With the slightest hesitancy, he slowly opened the compact and found himself staring into his own curious eyes.

It was a strange design for a compact mirror. The two halves of the crescent each held a reflecting surface, separated by the circular gap in between. Opened, the circular object lay flat in his hand, and he suddenly felt another vibration shoot up his arm and spread throughout his whole body. As he looked longer into the top mirror, his eyes widened when his reflection faded into his Youko form.

The mirror fell from his hand and landed on the bed without a sound. Kurama inhaled deeply, calming his quickened heart back to normal pace. What did…? Was that… _real_? But how could it be? Seeing his other self in the mirror…Perhaps it was only a trick of the mind?

Yet as he looked down at the mirror again, seeing golden eyes staring back at him, he knew that he wasn't wrong.

How did that girl come to possess a mirror like this?

Slowly picking up the item, he held it under the light of the moon in hopes of getting a better view of it. As he did so, the mirror began to glow with a pale white light. A wave of curiosity crashed over him as questions raced through his mind. Carefully he placed the compact on the window sill, watching the mirror continuing to reflect the soft radiance.

He felt… _something_ tugging the back of his mind. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.

* * *

The classroom was filled with the sound of friendly chatter, words bumping into each other and getting lost in others' ears. The students had dispersed into groups, finding ways to entertain themselves as they patiently waited for their teacher to arrive.

In their own group, Minako gave a wide yawn and let her head fall back on the chair. "Man, if I had known we were gonna wait, I would have slept in a little longer."

"I wonder what's taking so long," Makoto said before trailing off into a small yawn of her own.

"The teachers are all still discussing," Ami replied, putting her book down and removing her glasses. "Today is the day they start the dual teaching method."  
"Oh yeah," Usagi said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "Where they have two teachers teaching one subject during the week? I wonder what that's gonna be like."

Watching her friends for a moment, the blue-haired girl then frowned curiously. "Did you guys really stay up to finish that movie last night?"

The three giggled nervously, averting their eyes away from the accusing gaze. Ami sighed. "That movie must have finished really late. What time did you guys get to bed?"

"Well, after Usagi-chan and Minako-chan left, I managed to fall asleep at one or so," Makoto said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"One?" Ami repeated. Turning to Minako and Usagi, she asked, "Your parents must not have been happy that you two returned so late!"

Usagi giggled again, clasping her hands together and twiddling her thumbs. "Actually…" she said slowly, "after I left Mako-chan's apartment, Mamo-chan let me stay at his place."

The three exchanged doubtful looks. They had a feeling that it wasn't really Mamoru _letting_ her stay at his apartment so much as her _convincing_ him to let her spend the night there.

"You must be really happy to have him back, huh, Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked with a small smile.

With a vigorous nod, the shortest girl smiled brightly. "Yeah. Even though Mamo-chan said he might stay longer in America, he decided it would be better if he came home."

The three guardian Senshi smiled this time, knowing _exactly_ why Mamoru chose to stay.

"What about you, Minako-chan?" Usagi asked, turning curious sapphire eyes towards the other blonde.

The warrior of love waved her hand dismissively. "My mom was pretty mad when I came in," she replied nonchalantly, "but I guess that's what happens when you stroll in at two in the morning."

"Two?!" the other girls exclaimed in surprise.

"How could you get home at two?" Makoto demanded. "You don't live _that_ far away from me!"

Minako grinned mischievously. "Well, I would have been home sooner…but it _just_ so happens that on my way back I ran into this absolutely _cute_ guy…"

The brunette's attentions suddenly peaked. "Yeah?" she wondered. "How cute? What'd he look like?"

The conversations suddenly faded as the classroom door opened, and the students returned to their seats as an older woman stepped inside. Her crisp, clean light blue suit jacket and skirt reflected her meticulous personality, and her dark brown hair was pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head, keeping any strands out of her stern, tan face. She entered the room with a commanding air around her tiny form, warning those around her that she was not to be messed with. However, beneath her round-rimmed glasses, her warm brown eyes revealed the true kindness the woman was capable of, and the gentle smile she wore as she faced the class showed just how much she truly cared for the students.

She waited for them to settle completely before clearing her throat. "Good morning, students," she greeted in a light but firm voice.

"Good morning, Nakagawa-sensei," the class responded dutifully.

"As I'm sure you're all aware of," she continued, "the school is trying a new teaching method that alternates teachers during the week, in hopes that students' ability to learn will improve with the different teaching styles provided to them."

Murmurs rose through the classroom, but the woman quickly silenced them with a gesture of her hand. "We are not here to question it, and the success of this system will determine whether or not it will be a permanent part of your education. Now," she added, and her smile seemed to grow as her eyes sparkled with amusement, "I'd like you all to meet your additional history teacher."

The classroom door slid open again, and Minako's eyes widened as the young man entered.

His bright crimson hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, reaching down the middle of his back and starkly contrasting the gray suit jacket he wore. A grayish-brown vest covered most of his white shirt, and the collar was held together by a light blue tie. In one hand was a brown leather briefcase, while the other was hidden in the pocket of the matching gray pants. Placing the briefcase on the desk behind him as the older woman began writing something on the blackboard, the man then turned to the class.

A wave of whispers rose among the students, but only for a brief moment as the bright emerald eyes surveyed the room, passing over each one of them. His pale, almost feminine face was pulled into a thoughtful, curious expression. Then suddenly, a gentle smile graced his thin lips, and many of the girls sat on the edge of their chairs.

Finished with her writing, Nakagawa-sensei returned her attention to the class, coming to stand beside the taller, younger man. "Class," she announced, "this is Minamino Shuuichi-sensei."

The redhead bowed slightly. "Good morning, students," he greeted in a soft, friendly voice.

"Good morning, Minamino-sensei," most of the girls sighed in response.

"Minamino-sensei just arrived to Tokyo yesterday afternoon," Nakagawa-sensei explained, motioning to the fellow teacher beside her. "Last year, he graduated from Meiou High School, and is currently attending KO University. Now, even though Minamino-sensei is only a few years older than all of you, I expect you to show him the same respect as any teacher. Though Minamino-sensei and I are teaching you on separate days, we will be collaborating together in assessing your grade and class performance. If Minamino-sensei tells me that you have been misbehaving," she added with a serious stare, "he will not be the _only_ person you will have to deal with. Understood?"

"Yes, Sensei," the students answered.

With an approving nod, she then turned to her coworker. "Well, Minamino, I'll leave them to you."

The red-haired man gave her a courteous bow. "I'll do my best," he promised.

She gave him a reassuring smile, and with one last warning glare to the class, she left the classroom and slid the door closed behind her.

The man waited until she was gone before turning back to the class. "I apologize for the late start this morning," he said, walking around the desk and placing his briefcase on the floor beside it. "As Nakagawa-sensei mentioned earlier, I only just arrived in Tokyo yesterday, and I haven't been as prepared as I'd like to be. So, because this school is experimenting with all these changes, I would like to start with something different."

Erasing his name from the chalkboard, Minamino dusted his hands off. "This morning will be an independent study. As you work, I will call you up individually, just for a minute or two, and try to determine how well you are doing in the class." He chuckled a little as a light groan drifted through the room. "It won't take too long, and it will give me a chance to get to know you all."

Sitting at his desk, he reached for his briefcase and pulled out a folder. With a smile, he said, "Shall we begin?"

Some students rose from their seats, drifting to other corners of the room to "study" with their friends. The four girls gathered together as well, their eyes focused on this new teacher. "My God," Makoto said. "He is _gorgeous_!"

"He must be very intelligent as well," Ami added, placing a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Meiou High is one of the top high schools in Japan, and he's even teaching here _while_ attending KO University."

Usagi glanced around at some of the girls, noticing them whisper and giggle as they watched their red-haired instructor. "It looks like he's going to be really popular with the girls," she noted.

"You guys!" Minako whispered, pulling them all down into a closer huddle. " _That's_ the guy! _He's_ the one I ran into last night!"  
"No way!" Makoto replied. "For real?"

The Venus warrior nodded. "For _real_! I bumped into him last night…and I mean I _literally_ bumped into him."

Ami sighed. "You weren't paying attention to where you were going, huh?"

"So?" Minako retorted. "It was worth it for the chance to see someone like _him_. He even helped me when I dropped my stuff."

Usagi grinned, pulling on Minako's sleeve. "I bet you'll be one of his _favorite_ students now, since you were one of the first ones he met."

Minako scoffed. "I doubt it. We didn't really get a chance to talk, and he doesn't even know my name! He probably doesn't remember me."

"Aino Minako-san," the red-haired teacher suddenly called, causing the four girls to look up at him.

Scrambling to get out of the group, Minako quickly made her way to his desk, meeting his patient expression with an eager one. "Here!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

"So, it's Aino Minako-san…then?" he asked softly.

She nodded energetically, flashing him her brightest smile. "That's right, Minamino-sensei!"

He nodded, taking a moment to jot something down. "I'm glad to see you made it home all right, Aino-san."

She blinked, a curious frown replacing her liveliness. "What?"

Minamino looked up at her again, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "Well, I assumed that since you showed up in class this morning, you arrived to your home safely."

Minako felt her heart skip a beat. "So…you _do_ remember me from last night…" she whispered.

The teacher didn't seem to hear her as he began sorting through some of his papers. "Aino-san, it seems that you're performance is…quite average when it comes to history," he stated as delicately as he could.

She winced, rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed smile. "Yeah, well…some parts of history are easier to learn than others."

He nodded slightly, tapping his pencil on the desk. "Well, I believe that if you work hard, Aino-san, you would be able to improve your grade significantly."

She wasn't sure why, but she felt a sudden heat burning her cheeks. "You…really think so?"

Minamino nodded again, giving her a gentle smile. "I do. So let's work hard together, all right?"

Fidgeting a little, Minako then returned the nod, pumping excited fists in the air. "Okay. I'll try my best!"

He laughed softly at her enthusiasm. "All right."

She smiled again, and turned to head back to the girls when she heard him calling again, "Oh, one more thing, Aino-san?"

She looked back at him and watched him reaching into his pocket. "I think," he said slowly, "that this belongs to you." As he held out her crescent compact, she gasped.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, taking the mirror from him. "What…how…?!" She looked up at him. "Where did you get this?!"

"I found it on the ground last night after you left," he explained. "You were in such a hurry; I guess you didn't notice it had dropped."

She nodded, clutching the item to her. 'If Artemis ever found out I lost it, he'd _kill_ me!' she thought. A sudden thought passed through her mind, and she looked at him curiously. "If you had just come to Tokyo yesterday, Minamino-sensei, how did you recognize my uniform?"

He shook his head. "I didn't, actually," he replied, straightening some papers. "I just kept it with me, in the slight chance that I could return it to you sometime."

Minako's body froze, save for her heart pounding beneath her hands. Did he just say…he was waiting to see her again?

Looking up at her again, he smiled. "Is there anything else?"

She swallowed thickly, her suddenly dry tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. "N…no…" she finally managed, her voice so soft that she barely heard herself. With a slight bow, she murmured a quick 'thank you' before heading back to her friends.

"Minako-chan!" Usagi exclaimed. "You're all red! Are you okay?"

Minako nodded numbly.

"What did he say?" Makoto wondered.

Quickly pocketing her mirror, Minako glanced at the redhead as he spoke to another student. "He…remembers me, apparently," she replied softly.


	3. Chapter 2

"We're very sorry, Sir…"

"No, it's all right."

The three men bowed, their heads hung low. "Please forgive our mistake," the one man in the front said, the two behind him nodding in agreement.

Kurama shook his head, an understanding smile on his face. "No, it was my fault. I understand. I'm only sorry that you had to wait so long for me."

The men bowed again before replacing their hats on their heads. Kurama watched as they turned and headed down the hallway, disappearing around the corner. When they were gone, he turned to the mount of boxes piled in front of his apartment, his smile fading as he sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his keys and unlocked his residence, opening the door and leaning his briefcase against the inside wall.

He had hoped that his possessions would arrive later, when he was already at home to let the movers in. Unfortunately, they were already there when he arrived after school let out, and they had been waiting for about an hour before he came. They had been nice enough to wait for him, but other appointments later meant that they had to leave as soon as he got there.

He couldn't blame them, of course. After all, he was the one who shipped his things too late, so he was the only one at fault. Still, he was hoping to get his things settled as quickly as possible so he could have the rest of the time just to think.

Especially about that first period class…and those girls…

"It looks like you could use some help…"

Glancing over his shoulder, the redhead noticed the man standing behind him, looking at the boxes curiously. The stranger was slightly taller than he was, possibly about Kuwabara's height, and strands of his midnight hair fell in his cobalt eyes. The top button on his white collared shirt was undone, as though he had just arrived home himself. As he looked at this other man, Kurama's felt his eyes narrow ever so slightly. There was something different about him…yet something so familiar.

Turning to fully face this newcomer, the red-haired fox gave a friendly smile. "I would appreciate it," he replied softly. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"It's no trouble," the stranger assured, returning the smile with a small one of his own. "I live next door, and I couldn't help but notice what happened."

Kurama felt the man's sense of reserve, and he could easily tell that he was normally a private individual who kept to himself. While it was something he himself could easily relate to, it simply made him wonder about this man's intentions.

The other suddenly offered a pale hand. "Chiba Mamoru," he introduced himself.

He hesitated for only a second before reaching up to accept the gesture. "Minamino Shuuichi," he responded.

Their hands just barely touched when a powerful jolt surged through Kurama's arm and rapidly spread throughout his body. He could sense a mysterious energy, and was reminded of the night before when he bumped into that girl. The energy he felt then and the energy he felt now, though distinctly different from each other, had a striking similarity that he could not place.

At the same time the fox was detecting this energy from this man, he could feel some of his own leaving him.

Both men dropped their hands quickly, regarding each other warily for what felt like hours. But only a minute passed before Kurama smiled, indicating the pile of boxes before them. "Here," he said, picking up one of the packages, "I'd like to get this stuff inside so it won't be in anyone's way."

As he entered his apartment, he could feel the other man's hesitancy before sensing the other taking a box and following him inside. Though the redhead felt a little uneasy about having the other here, especially when he was unclear about what just took place, perhaps it would give him a clue about what he was dealing with. He could observe and try to understand why this man seemed so… unusual.

Just like those girls in class that morning…

* * *

Mamoru placed the bottle of water on the table in front of his neighbor. "Here," he said, taking his own and twisting the top off.

"Thank you," Shuuichi said, picking up the cool bottle and opening it. "I haven't had time to pick up anything at the store yet."

The dark-haired man nodded, taking a sip of water. "So you just arrived in Tokyo yesterday?"

"That's right. I start classes at KO University tomorrow."

"Really?" Mamoru placed his water bottle on the table. "I'm a student at KO University as well."

The redhead smiled. "That's quite a coincidence."

Glancing at the boxes that still lay unopened all over the apartment, Mamoru couldn't help but ask, "If you start classes tomorrow, why did you come only yesterday?"

"Well," the redhead said, replacing the cap on his bottle, "I actually meant to come earlier, but I met unexpected delays due to…personal reasons."

The prince nodded again, understanding that his companion didn't wish to talk about the situation any further. Silence settled over the two as they sat at the kitchen table, resting after moving the boxes into the apartment and determining where to put them. There weren't too many boxes, actually, but some of them were quite heavy.

It really wasn't any of his business, but he found himself wondering what kind of things his new neighbor owned.

Mamoru glanced down at his hand, remembering the peculiar event that took place earlier. He had returned to his own dwellings when he heard the commotion close by. The movers were apologizing to Shuuichi for not being able to help him transfer his belongings inside because of another job they had to do. He saw them depart, leaving the redhead all alone.

Mamoru had felt something…strange about the other man, but he couldn't understand what it was. During their brief handshake, however, he felt an overwhelming force sweep through him, a sensation so perplexing yet familiar somehow. A shadowed figure passed through his vision – perhaps some kind of animal – but quickly vanished when their hands dropped, and he lost his connection with the other.

There was something…different about Shuuichi. He hoped that he could determine what that was, but the time they spent moving the boxes didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary. Everything appeared fine, and Shuuichi seemed very normal.

Still, he could feel…something…Maybe he'd keep an eye on this red-haired neighbor of his.

"So, what are you studying at the university, Chiba-san?" Shuuichi asked suddenly, looking at him with curious eyes.

Mamoru cleared his throat, moving his suspicions to the back of his mind. "Medicine," he replied.

"Ah." The redhead nodded. "That takes a lot of dedication and hard work."

"It does," the prince agreed. "I actually spent the last year in America working on my studies."

"Oh? That must have been an experience."

Taking another sip of his water, Mamoru then twisted the cap back on. "What about you, Minamino-san? What are you studying?"

"History," Shuuichi replied with a smile. "I imagine it's not as difficult as medicine can be, but it is something I enjoy. There is always something to learn from history."

There was something about his companion's smile…something Mamoru couldn't quite identify. His emerald eyes seemed a bit distracted as he spoke, and the air around them felt a little heavier somehow. He decided to change the subject. "So are you working while taking classes?"

Shuuichi nodded. "Actually, today was my first day where I work."

Mamoru blinked. "And you only arrived here yesterday? That must be difficult."

"I really wish I had a little more time to get things settled," the redhead sighed. "But I'll manage, I suppose. It just might take a bit longer than I thought it would."

"Does your job take up a lot of time?"

"A little bit," his neighbor replied thoughtfully. He looked ready to say more, but he abruptly stopped and glanced around the room. "Do you hear that?"

Blinking a little, Mamoru paused to listen as well, and suddenly became aware of the sound of a doorbell chime, followed by gentle, rapid knocking. It sounded faint, muffled by the walls, but still close by. Turning slightly in his chair, he looked down the small hallway towards the opened apartment door.

"Mamo-chan?" a sweet, familiar voice echoed down the outside corridor. "Mamo-chan, are you home?"

With a small smile, the dark-haired man turned to the other, slowly rising to his feet. "Excuse me," he said as he pushed back his chair. Walking down the hall, he stopped at the door and glanced out, finding his younger girlfriend standing outside his apartment.

"Usa-ko," he said gently, leaning some of his weight against the doorframe.

The high school girl jumped slightly, turning towards him with wide sapphire eyes. "Huh? Mamo-chan?" she said. "What are you doing over there?"

He stepped out into the corridor and stood before her. "I was helping someone move into their apartment. What are you doing here?"

The blonde smiled. "I wanted to tell you something!" she explained in her usual cheerful tone. "Something really exciting happened in school today!"

He chuckled softly; Usagi's enthusiasm was always encouraging. "Oh? So what happened?"

"Well, you know how some schools were planning on having that 'dual teaching method' thing?"

Mamoru nodded. "Was your school one of them?"

"Uh huh! And we met the teachers who are part of that program today!"

As his girlfriend continued with her tale, he heard the soft footsteps approaching the doorway, and from the corner of his eye he saw his red-haired neighbor glimpse out from the apartment. "Eh?" Shuuichi said suddenly. "Tsukino-san?"

Hearing her name, the younger girl paused and glanced over. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "Minamino-sensei?"

"Do you two know each other?" Mamoru asked, watching the two curiously.

Usagi nodded, a smile replacing her surprise as she looked up at her boyfriend. "Minamino-sensei is our new history teacher."

The prince looked back at the other man, who nodded in confirmation. "I see. So then you're one of the teachers that are part of the dual teaching program at Usa-ko's school?"

"That's right," the redhead replied. He then turned to his student. "But what brings you here, Tsukino-san?"

Mamoru felt a little nervous when the teen held onto his arm, smiling widely as she answered, "Mamo-chan is my boyfriend, and I came over to see him."

Slightly embarrassed, he glanced over at Shuuichi, who wore an unreadable smile. "Is that so?" the other man asked. "So then, that explains the ring."

Usagi blinked, her head tipped to the side. "Hmm?"

Shuuichi pointed to her hand, indicating the pink heart-stone ring that rested on her finger. "I couldn't help but notice it this morning when we spoke. It must mean that you and Chiba-san have been together for quite a while."

The girl smiled, playing with the ring a bit. "Yup! Mamo-chan even said that after I graduate from high school, we can get married!"

Mamoru sighed softly, rubbing the back of his neck. As much as he loved Usagi, he did get somewhat embarrassed when she revealed every part of their relationship to people, even strangers she barely knew. Their relationship was meant to be something between themselves, and he preferred to keep it that way.

He couldn't really blame her though. Usagi was simply very honest about her feelings, and that was one of the reasons he loved her.

Still, as private an individual he was, he felt a little uncomfortable exposing their personal plans to someone they just met. Luckily Shuuichi seemed to sense his uneasiness, as he tried to end the conversation. "Well, it would be a good idea to wait until you graduate," he affirmed. "Anyway, I probably should give you both time for yourselves…"

As the redhead began retreating into his apartment, Usagi went up to the open doorway. "Is this your place, Minamino-sensei?"

Shuuichi paused, turning back to look at her. "That's right."

She giggled softly. "How funny that you live right next door to Mamo-chan."

"It's a lucky thing, though," the young teacher said. "Chiba-san was nice enough to help me move my things in."

Shuuichi took a step back as Usagi peered into the apartment. "Wow!" she said, seeing the boxes scattered throughout the dwelling. "It sure is messy!"

"Usa-ko," Mamoru chided.

The redhead didn't seem offended, though, and simply explained, "These are the things I had to send for from back home. They arrived earlier, before school let out, and the movers couldn't stay to take them inside. Fortunately, Chiba-san offered to help me."

The dumpling-haired girl looked at her teacher questioningly. "Your stuff _just_ came today? I thought you got here _yesterday_!"

Shuuichi laughed softly. "I did. But I couldn't bring all my stuff with me then, so I only took what I absolutely needed, and had everything else sent here." Looking back inside the cluttered area, he ran pale fingers through his crimson mane. "However, it could take a while before I can put everything away properly, and I still need some time to prepare for my classes tomorrow…"

Looking at him, Usagi frowned. It only lasted for a moment, though, before another smile lit her features. " _We_ can help you unpack!" she offered. Looking at her older boyfriend, she said, "Right, Mamo-chan?"

The dark-haired prince noticed the stunned expression on his neighbor's face, and he cleared his throat, placing a gentle hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Usa-ko," he said, "we should probably give Minamino-san some time alone. The past two days were probably tiring enough, and he's already starting at the university tomorrow. He needs some time to rest and prepare."

The short blonde looked at both of them curiously. "Well, yeah…" she agreed. "But that's _why_ we should help him. The sooner he can unpack and put everything away, the sooner he doesn't have to worry about it, and the sooner he can rest."

Mamoru blinked, staring at her for a long moment. Then he glanced at Shuuichi, who wore the same bemused expression on his face. But it was quickly replaced with amusement as the redhead smiled, and Mamoru already knew what would happen. Usagi's bright innocence, her cheerful enthusiasm and sweet kindness towards anyone who needed help…It was almost impossible to say no to her.

"Thank you, Tsukino-san," Shuuichi finally replied. "That would be a tremendous help." Looking at the taller man, he added, "That is, if you don't mind, Chiba-san?"

Usagi looked up at him expectantly, but Mamoru already had his answer. "I don't mind."

With a lively grin, the blonde girl all but bounced into the apartment, heading for the first box in her sight. At the door, the red-haired man moved to give Mamoru more room to enter the apartment. As he walked by the other, though, their arms bumped each other, and in that split second he once again felt another shock rush through him. Nonetheless, he pretended nothing happened and simply went to where his girlfriend sat, carefully removing items from its container.

Shuuichi _seemed_ nice enough. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to this neighbor than it appeared…

* * *

"You sure do have a lot of things, Minamino-sensei," Usagi said, sitting beside an empty box in his bedroom. "I'm surprised you were able to fit them all!"

The redhead chuckled, closing the door of his closet. "My mother and a few of my friends bought some things for me and insisted I take them. They said they wanted to make sure I had everything I needed."

Mamoru bent down, taking the cardboard box and carefully folding it, so it could be put away and used at a later time. "Usa-ko," he said, passing the flattened container to the other man, "I thought you wanted to help Minamino-san clean up?"

She tilted her head back to look at her boyfriend. "I do," she replied.

He tapped her forehead gently. "So wouldn't that be easier to do if you weren't going through his personal belongings?"

Looking down at the photo album in her hands, she giggled sheepishly. Then she looked up at her teacher. "I'm sorry," she said. "I saw it in one of the boxes, and I just couldn't help myself."

Shuuichi shook his head, sitting in front of the girl as Mamoru sat beside her. "It's all right," he replied softly.

The princess closed the book – though kept one figure between the pages to hold her spot – and fingered the light blue and pink plastic flowers that decorated the cover. "It's not the kind of photo album I expected someone like _you_ to have, Minamino-sensei," she commented.

"A friend of mine gave that one to me," he admitted. "She loves taking pictures, and she compiled several of them together into that album and gave it to me as a going-away present."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense then." The blonde nodded, opening the book again and flipping through the pages as Mamoru (after being entirely sure that their host didn't mind) looked at the photographs over her shoulder. "Did you move from really far away?"

"Using the bullet train, I lived about five or six hours from Tokyo. While it's not the shortest trip, it's not like I couldn't visit them, or they visit me." The redhead glanced at the things that decorated his apartment. "For a while, I thought everyone was making too big a deal about me leaving. My mother bought me some new things she said I 'needed' to have, and my friends threw a farewell party and gave me some going-away presents." He chuckled softly. "They were almost acting like they'd never see me again."

Usagi frowned, taking a quick glance at her boyfriend. "They must have realized that you'd be really busy with work and your studies," she said softly. "And living such a distance away, they probably knew it would be hard for you to travel back and forth to see them." Then she smiled, playing with the ring on her finger. "So maybe, they wanted to give you something, so every time you looked at it, you would think of them, and you wouldn't feel so lonely."

Shuuichi stared at her for a moment with wide emerald eyes. Then his surprise melted into a smile, and he nodded. "Perhaps you're right."

With a gentle giggle to lighten the mood, the dumpling-haired girl returned her attention to the photo album, carefully turning to the next page. As she did so, her sapphire eyes widened and she gasped softly. "Oh wow…" she breathed.

Both men watched her curiously, and Mamoru took a closer look at the picture she found. "What is it, Usa-ko?" he asked.

She pointed to the picture of a man and woman; by their outfits, it was easy to tell they were getting married. "It's so pretty," she said. "I'd love a wedding dress like that one!"

Before her boyfriend could think of any way to respond, Usagi turned the book around to show Shuuichi, pointing to the picture of the two. "Are these your parents, Minamino-sensei?"

The redhead blinked, gently taking the album from her. "I didn't know she even _had_ this picture," he murmured to himself. Then he looked back at the rabbit. "That's my stepfather, actually. He and my mother were married three years ago."

"Oh!" she squealed. "That must have been so exciting!"

"It was pleasant. Only family and close friends attended, so it was a small wedding, but it was nice."

Smiling brightly, Usagi then looked at the photo of the happy couple once again. "You're mother is so beautiful."

"Thank you," Shuuichi said, a hint of pride slipping through his tone.

Usagi took back the album and continued flipping through it, stopping on a picture of her teacher with his mother and stepfather, standing with a younger boy. "Oh! Is that your younger brother?"

The teacher glanced at the picture and blinked again. "Where did she get _that_?" he wondered. Clearing his throat, he then replied, "Yeah. He's my stepbrother, Shuiichi."

She laughed. "Is it strange having a brother with the same name?"

"It was…interesting at first. But we eventually managed to work something out."

Still smiling, she was about to turn to the next page when she noticed Mamoru sitting a little closer to her than before. Turning slightly towards him, she saw that he was staring at the picture of the family intently, a curious frown on his lips. She recognized it easily; his eyes held the same look whenever he was studying or researching, trying to understand or solve a problem just out of his reach.

"Mamo-chan?" she prodded.

He didn't answer, and instead reached out and placed his hand on the photograph, his fingers brushing over the image of the woman. She stood behind the younger brunet boy, her hands resting gently on his shoulders.

She watched her boyfriend curiously, looking down at the picture again to see what he found so captivating. Then she turned to Shuuichi, who was looking at the photo album as well. But there was something different about him…There was a sudden sadness hanging over him that she couldn't explain, and his emerald eyes seemed so…so…

"You can see them, can't you?" Shuuichi asked suddenly.

Snapping out of his trance, Mamoru looked up at the other man. "What?"

Carefully the redhead pulled the book down so that it was resting flat over Usagi's lap. Pointing to the image of his mother, he focused on the dark-haired man sitting in front of him. "The scars on her arms…That's what you were looking at, isn't it?"

Mamoru's shoulders stiffened, and he looked as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn't. Slightly embarrassed, he averted his eyes to the floor. "Sorry," he said. "I…I didn't…"

Watching him seriously for a moment, Shuuichi then sighed and sat back. "I guess I can't blame someone studying medicine for noticing them, even in a photograph," he replied.

Taking a closer look at the picture, Usagi finally noticed the marks her teacher mentioned etched across the back of the woman's hands, trailing down the wrists and disappearing under the long sleeves of her blouse. "Eh?" she said. "How did she get those?"

"Usa-ko," Mamoru gently scolded, and she covered her mouth sheepishly. Even _she_ knew that was not a question to ask about.

But the red-haired teacher didn't seem to notice, and instead gingerly took the album from her, closing it and rising to his feet. "It happened in an accident several years ago," he replied softly, placing the book on a nearby drawer.

Slowly, Usagi and Mamoru rose to their feet as well, and the young girl stared hard at her teacher's back. "Minamino-sensei?" she asked.

He turned to her and offered her a small smile, but she instantly noticed the change in him. He was different than he was just a few minutes ago; the smile was much more guarded, and it never did quite reach his eyes.

"I apologize for taking up so much of your time, Tsukino-san," he said suddenly. "I do appreciate you and Chiba-san for helping me unpack and settle in my apartment, but I didn't mean to keep you here so late."

The abrupt change in subject surprised her, and for a moment she didn't know what to say. But realizing what he meant, she shook her head. "No, that's okay," she answered. "I'm just glad I could help."

"It is rather late, Usa-ko," Mamoru added. "Maybe I should walk you home."

She nodded a little, her eyes never straying from her teacher even as the three of them walked through the hallway and to the front door.

Opening the front door, Shuuichi then turned to them and gave a polite bow. "Thank you for your help," he said.

Forcing on a big smile, Usagi shook her head and bounced out of the apartment. "It's no problem. It was a lot of fun!"

Mamoru followed his girlfriend out, turning toward the redhead as soon as he stepped outside. "You better get some rest for your classes tomorrow," he said.

Shuuichi nodded. "I will." Then he turned to the rabbit. "Since I start at the university, I won't see you in school tomorrow. But I'll be teaching the day after."

"Okay," she replied cheerfully. "I'll see you then!"

With a small smile, the redhead gave them another small bow before slowly closing the door.

The two still stood in front of the apartment for a lingering moment, waiting silently before finally heading down the hall. It wasn't until they reached the elevator when Usagi finally spoke. "Mamo-chan?"

He looked down at her. "Hmm?"

"Did you notice something…strange about Minamino-sensei?"

The elevator door opened, and they both stepped inside its private surroundings. "You mean just now?" he asked as he pushed the button for the lobby.

"Mm…sort of." She looked up at her boyfriend, confusion in her sapphire eyes. "I got…a weird feeling about him suddenly."

For a while, he only watched her quietly. Then he looked down at his hand. "Actually, I felt something from him too."

"You did?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Before you came, when I first met him…I felt a strange power from him, and…something else. It was almost like…darkness."

"Darkness?" she repeated.

"Yeah." He looked at her again, this time with solemn cobalt eyes. "We might have to watch out for him and be careful."

Puzzled, the girl then looked down at her feet. "Oh…" she said softly.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just…" She played with her hands a little. "I didn't feel anything like that at all."

The elevator doors opened again, and the couple walked through the lobby and out of the apartment building. "So what did you feel?" the older man wondered.

"I thought…" she started slowly, "that Minamino-sensei suddenly felt…guilty, and he became upset because of it. But other than that, I thought he was kind, and friendly…"

She paused, remembering the haunted emerald depths on her teacher's face. "Except…for some reason his eyes seemed too… _old_ , somehow…"

* * *

Kurama sighed, running fingers through his crimson hair as he carefully moved the papers across the desk, reading the names at the top over and over again.

_Aino Minako…Kino Makoto…Mizuno Ami…Tsukino Usagi…_

Out of the entire class, it was only these four girls that he sensed an unusual energy from. When he had a chance to observe them, he noticed that they also hung around together the entire class period. The energy was faint, though…not quite as strong as it was when he bumped into Aino Minako the night before. But the strange presence was still there within them, and while each girl had her own unique energy, there was a resemblance between them that bonded them all together.

His neighbor, Chiba Mamoru, as well. He felt something very similar from the dark-haired man. And it couldn't have been a coincidence that Chiba Mamoru and Tsukino Usagi were in a relationship.

Kurama folded his hands together, resting his chin on his knuckles. It wasn't really a _bad_ feeling that he received from these people. Being around them was actually quite pleasant, and he didn't really think he had anything to worry about from them. His only problem was that, when he was with them, he didn't always act like himself.

That morning, for example, when he discovered that the girl he ran into the night before was Aino Minako, he intended to hold onto the crescent mirror for a while longer, until he managed to talk to her in a more private setting and ask her about it. But when he saw her in class and spoke with her, he felt an impulsive spark in his chest, and returned the mirror before he realized what he was doing. He couldn't ask about it right then and there, and he had no choice but to let her return to her seat without questioning her about it.

In the end, though, it was probably better that way. If he started inquiring about the mirror, she might suspect something about him. The last thing he wanted was for her, or anyone there, to discover that he was actually a demon.

But there was also the incidence that happened in the apartment. He spent hours getting to know Chiba Mamoru and Tsukino Usagi while they helped him clean up and put his things away, and he became quite comfortable with them, despite his initial reservations about the other man. There was a kindness about them when they were together, a contagious warmth that he found himself enjoying while in their company.

It was because of that, however, that he almost revealed the accident concerning his mother those years ago. He hadn't spoken of it since that day on the rooftop with Yusuke; after baring his demon soul to the spirit detective, it had taken away some of the guilt that lingered since the accident, and the story hadn't bothered him as much _since_ that day.

But when Mamoru was looking at the picture, and he realized what the medical student was looking at…why did it worry him again?

Frowning thoughtfully, the redhead looked over the students' information once again. There was something about these people that interrupted his normal flow of thinking, and being around them made him lose control of… _something_. He didn't know what it was, but his normally careful, calculating mind released some of the restraint he held on himself.

Admittedly, he felt a sense of freedom from it. Yet at the same time, he found it rather…frightening.


	4. Chapter 3

As the five girls sat down in their normal booth, Minako gave the moon princess a demanding stare. "All right, Usagi-chan," she said, her tone deceptively soft, "now that we're here, it's time to tell us what happened last night."

"And don't leave _anything_ out," Makoto added, pounding a fist on the table.

Usagi giggled nervously, rubbing the back of her head. After accidentally mentioning that morning before class that she had helped their new history teacher move into his apartment, Minako and Makoto questioned her nonstop about it. Not wanting to garner the attention of their female classmates – who she knew would also be interested to learn where the redhead lived – she promised to tell them about it after school.

"There's not much to tell, really," she replied slowly. "We took stuff out of boxes, Minamino-sensei told us where to put them away. It got late, and then Mamo-chan took me home."

"Oh, c'mon, Usagi-chan!" Minako whined. "You were _in_ his apartment for _four_ hours! You must have learned _something_ about him!"

The dumpling-haired teen hesitated for a moment; she knew she should be careful about what she revealed to her friends, especially considering what happened last night. "Well…" she finally answered, "I learned that his mother got remarried three years ago, and he has a little stepbrother."

"No way!" Makoto said. "How'd you get all that?"

"I was…kinda looking through one of his photo albums."

Minako and Makoto leaned across the table, staring at their friend. "No way!" they exclaimed.

Ami and Rei could only sit and watch as the rabbit gradually disclosed more details to the two eager listeners. After taking a sip of her soda, the blue-haired girl sighed. "Most of the other girls at school could only talk about Minamino-sensei too," she commented with a shake of her head. "Even if he wasn't in school today, he left quite an impression among the students."

The temple Miko stirred her iced tea with her straw, listening more to the ice rattle against her glass than to what the other three were talking about. "So what's so special about him?" she wondered, though wasn't really too interested.

"Only that he's one of the most amazing people ever," Makoto replied, wringing her hands and staring at the ceiling dreamily.

Minako sighed longingly as she joined the brunette. "His long, crimson hair and brilliant emerald eyes…that gorgeous smile that can make your heart melt…He's thin, but strong, too, I can tell…And he's smart. Ami-chan even said so."

Ami smiled a bit and glanced out the window with a distant look in her eyes. "He _is_ intelligent," she conceded. "And he's polite, too. He also seemed ready to help those who have trouble in class."

Usagi giggled softly. "It sounds like Ami-chan is interested in Minamino-sensei, too," she quipped.

Blinking back to reality, the soldier of wisdom blushed slightly. "It's not like that," she protested, though kept her eyes averted. "Besides, no matter how many girls are interested in him, he's still our teacher. It wouldn't be right for him to –"

"Hey!" Minako said, waving a finger in her friend's face. "Even though he's our teacher, he's still young! Besides, he's only about two years older than we are! I bet he's looking for that right girl. And I'm gonna 'help' make sure he finds _just_ the right one," she added, placing her hand to her chest.

"Not if _I_ 'help' him first," Makoto challenged, and the two playfully glared at each other, kicking off the new friendly rivalry for their teacher's attention.

Rei rolled her eyes a bit before turning to look at the Venus girl. "I thought _some girls_ don't need a man," she softly reminded her friend.

Glancing at the raven-haired girl, Minako winked. "Even if some girls don't _need_ a man, it'd still be nice to have one."

At that, Rei couldn't help but smile. Even though she herself had no interest in men, she had to admit that she admired Minako's courage to continue searching for someone despite the odds mounted against her.

After the ordeal with Chaos, Minako had confided in her about the ominous fortune she received from Adonis – how he predicted that she would never find love. She remembered the forlorn look in Minako's eyes, and could feel the heaviness in her heart. And it was strange to think that the protector of love would never really have a chance to truly experience it herself.

But even with that dark prophecy drifting over her life, Minako didn't stop trying. She kept looking for someone who she might give her love to, someone who could give love in return. She sought for someone to accept her, and to share in the kind of beauty that Usagi and Mamoru have; perhaps it could never be as strong as the love between the prince and princess, but it could still be wonderful.

With things as quiet as they've been for the past year, Rei hoped that maybe Minako could finally have that chance to find someone. Still, she knew that even if Minako _did_ find someone, it would be a strained relationship since the Senshi could _never_ give herself completely to anyone else. Their duty remained with their princess, and they've committed their lives to her. It would be difficult to find any guy who she could reveal her _whole_ self to, and who could absolutely understand that; knowing that he could never be anything but second in the Venus soldier's heart. The same would happen in any romantic relationship Minako pursued, and Rei just didn't want her to get hurt.

That was the point of Adonis's final message, she knew. Yet she thought that maybe – just maybe – he was wrong, and she even wished that Minako _would_ find someone. Because they deserved to be happy too.

Didn't they?

Everyone jumped a little when Minako suddenly slammed her hands down, the table and their drinks rattling as she abruptly got to her feet. "No way…!" she said.

"What is it, Minako-chan?" Ami wondered.

The blonde didn't answer and ignored the curious looks of her friends. Instead, she started waving one arm in the air, cupping her mouth with her free hand as she called out, "Minamino-sensei!"

The other girls looked across the Crown Fruit Parlor to see the red-haired man standing at the entrance. Hearing his name, he glanced in their direction, his emerald eyes blinking in surprise. Then a small smile appeared on his face, and he slowly approached them.

Somehow, Minako managed to slip out of their booth and met him as he stood at their table. "Hi, Minamino-sensei!" she said, unable to contain her excitement.

"Good afternoon, Aino-san," he greeted with a polite nod. Then he turned to his students still sitting at the table. "Hello, girls."

"Good afternoon, Minamino-sensei," Ami, Makoto, and Usagi all greeted.

"Are you all done with your classes today?" the rabbit wondered.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," he said, a sigh faintly trailing his response. "But I had some time to kill before my next class, so I thought I'd take a look around and try to learn where everything is."

"Well, you found a good place!" Minako grinned, presenting the small café with a wave of her arms. "Welcome to the Crown Fruit Parlor. Their sodas are especially tasty and are a great way to uplift any weary or gloomy mood."

The teacher chuckled softly. "So this must be a popular place for students to hang out, huh?"

"Sure. High school _and_ university students come here all the time."

"I see." Brushing back crimson strands from his eyes, he then glanced at the raven-haired girl who quietly stared at him. "Oh…Excuse me," he said, turning to face her completely. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh right!" Minako said. "Minamino-sensei, this is our friend, Hino Rei-chan. She goes to T.A. Private Girls School."

"Ah hah…That explains the uniform style," he replied. With a polite bow, he then extended his hand to her. "It's nice to meet you, Hino-san."

She nodded as she accepted his hand, trying as hard as she could not to narrow her eyes as she watched him. Though she was startled to be so amazed by his attractive features, her mind cleared quickly when the sudden eerie feeling penetrated her senses with painful clarity. She _knew_ …something was not right with this man.

"Would you like to join us, Minamino-sensei?" Makoto asked, motioning to their table. "We could always make room for one more."

"Oh, that's all right, Kino-san," Shuuichi replied. "I think I should look around for a bit more before I head back to campus."

"Would you like someone to show you around?" Minako offered eagerly.

Looking at her, he smiled gently. "Thank you, Aino-san," he said, "but I wouldn't want to trouble you. Besides, shouldn't you girls be studying?"

Minako, Makoto, and Usagi averted their eyes sheepishly, but Ami answered for all of them, "We will, Sensei, as soon as we're finished here."

With a soft laugh, the redhead gave her a wink. "Make sure these girls study hard, all right, Mizuno-san?"

She smiled her response, and Shuuichi quickly glanced at his watch. "Well, I better get going, then." Slipping his hands into his pockets, he turned to his students. "I'll see you girls in class tomorrow morning."

"Bye, Minamino-sensei," the four girls responded, Makoto and Minako more enthusiastically than the other two.

Turning to the priestess, he bowed again. "It was nice meeting you, Hino-san," he repeated.

"Mmm…" she said softly, watching as her friends' teacher turned and walked back towards the doorway. Just before he headed out, however, she saw him glance back in their direction, meeting her eyes with unreadable emerald depths. Then he disappeared from sight, yet the heavy feeling still lingered over her.

With a satisfied sigh, Minako plopped back down into the booth next to Rei, a large grin spreading over her face. "Well?" she asked her raven-haired friend. "Whatcha think?"

"Isn't he awesome?" Makoto swooned, glancing out the window to get a glimpse of him heading down the street. "I never thought we'd run into him here."

"It's _just_ like that night when I ran into him!" the warrior of love exclaimed.

The Jupiter girl laughed. "Except that you didn't crash into him this time."

As the blonde stuck her tongue out at the taller girl, Rei looked at her. "You've run into him before?" she wondered.

"Literally," Usagi giggled.

"Can we drop that, _please_?" Minako moaned.

"Minako-chan," the warrior of flame said, "I think you better be careful around him."

The other four girls looked at the Miko curiously. "What?" Minako asked. "You mean Minamino-sensei?"

Ami watched their friend with a serious frown. "Did you sense something, Rei-chan?"

Rei nodded. "It felt like he's hiding something…wrapped in an aura of darkness."

"Minamino-sensei?" Makoto said doubtfully. "No way!"

"Darkness…" Usagi whispered slowly, placing a hand to her heart. "Actually…Mamo-chan said he felt something like that about Minamino-sensei too…"

Minako turned to the moon princess with wide sapphire eyes. "Usagi-chan…?"

Violet eyes narrowing, the warrior of war looked at her glass. "We better be cautious around this guy…He's definitely not what he seems."

Minako and Makoto exchanged uncertain expressions. There couldn't…there really couldn't be anything wrong with their teacher…

Could there?

* * *

"Artemis," Luna said softly, "I think I found something."

The white cat bounded slowly over, jumping up onto the computer consol next to the other. While the girls were still at school, the two felines were in the command center trying to turn up as much information as they could find.

"It took a little while, since he's not from Tokyo," she admitted when he sat next to her, "but I think this is everything I could get."

He combed through the pages that came up, his eyes searching through medical files, academic records, and any other important documentation that came up under Minamino Shuuichi. After a moment, he scoffed. "He seems pretty normal to me," he muttered.

Luna nodded in agreement, though continued going through his information. "Usagi-chan said that both Mamoru-san and Rei-chan felt something strange from him, though." She turned to her companion. "What if he's another enemy?"

Artemis sighed, his tail twitching behind him. "Then Uranus and Neptune picked a bad time to travel."

The black cat frowned, but knew there was a grain of truth in his otherwise casual remark. Some months ago, after Mamoru returned, the two outer Senshi decided that they also wanted to spend a portion of their senior year spending a semester in an American high school. Since the past year had transpired without any incident, they felt it was a perfect chance to take some time to study abroad, and wouldn't be returning until the winter vacation. At the time, it seemed like a good idea, but now…

"If anything _does_ happen, we could always contact them, couldn't we?" Luna asked. "And Sailor Pluto and Saturn are also available to help if we need them"

Artemis winced a little. "Yeah, I guess…but maybe we should check him out for ourselves first before jumping to any conclusions."

She looked at him, curiosity in her crimson eyes. "What if he's dangerous?"

"Well, what if he's not?" he replied.

Luna blinked. "What's gotten into you, Artemis?" she wondered. She had never seen this kind of hesitation in him before.

For a moment, he said nothing and instead only looked away. Finally, with a sigh, he replied softly, "It's just…Mina really likes this guy…y'know?"

Her ear twitched slightly as she recalled what the princess mentioned concerning the new teacher. "So do most of the girls at their school, so I'm told."

He shook his head and his tail seemed to sag as he glanced at the picture of the red-haired man on the computer monitor. "I think…Mina feels there's something different about this guy too…Just in a whole other meaning…"

-

_As he entered his partner's room, he couldn't help but blink as he stared at the high school girl sitting hunched over at her desk. Slowly he approached, and eventually could make out the heavy textbook she buried her nose in, her brow furrowed as she tried to concentrate, and it confirmed his suspicions. But he still couldn't help but ask._

_"Mina…" he began slowly, "are you actually…studying?"_

_Leaning back, she sighed softly and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah," she replied, picking up her pen and grabbing a notebook, "but I'm not sure how much of this is sinking in."_

_Artemis jumped up onto her desk as she began taking some notes down. Glancing through her textbook, his whiskers twitched a little. "History, huh?" he asked, sitting down beside her elbow. "That figures."_

_She stuck her tongue at him. "So? You should be glad that I'm studying."_

_"Well, yeah…But we both know that you're only doing this to impress that Minamino guy. He's teaching your class tomorrow, isn't he?"_

_"Well yeah…" Minako frowned, scratching out a line in her notebook and trying to rewrite it. "But at least I know that he_ will _be impressed."_

_Artemis rolled his eyes. "Oh c'mon, Mina. You don't have to impress this guy to do well. Haven't I told you before that if you try hard, you'll be fine?"_

_She sighed in aggravation, rereading a page in her textbook. "Yeah, Artemis. You've told me that before…my parents have told me that, my friends have told me that, and I know you guys mean it and everything, but…"_

_He blinked, watching her curiously. "But what?"_

_Minako looked down at her notebook, doodling a bit at the corner of the page. "Well…you guys tell me all that because you_ know _me. But Minamino-sensei doesn't really. And…I guess hearing it from someone else makes me feel more…_ sure _of it."_

 _She smiled then, resting her chin in her palm as she stared up at the ceiling. "It's kinda nice, y'know…knowing that someone like_ him _could believe in someone like_ me _…"_

-

Artemis sighed again, his gaze focused down as his tail wrapped around him. "She just really believes this guy…and I guess I just don't want her to get hurt again."

Luna frowned as she watched her companion. She remembered what Artemis had told her of Minako's time as Sailor V before the others' powers were awakened. The very first battle had been especially hard for the warrior of love: Even if it was only a crush, and even if it was an enemy…having to destroy him was difficult for a young girl who was just learning of her destiny. And having to push her to do it… it was something that Artemis, to this day, never forgave himself for.

He couldn't protect her from everything. Minako was bound to endure more hardships and heartaches. But as her partner, Artemis was determined to do his best making sure she suffered as little as possible.

Slowly, the black cat inched up to the other, and when she was close enough she gentle nuzzled up against him. He turned to her in slight surprise, and having his attention allowed Luna to say softly, "We'll investigate him a bit more…try to see what he's really like. Then we can decide from there, okay?"

He managed a grateful smile as he nodded, his tail gently entwining with hers. "Okay," he replied.

* * *

It had been an hour or two since the girls finished their after-school activities and left for home, never noticing the two felines hidden in one of the trees on school grounds. That was the point, however; not to be seen by the girls while they were waiting for their true suspect.

The red-haired teacher, Minamino Shuuichi, eventually emerged from the school along with a few other teachers, just as the sun was beginning to set. As the group of educators parted ways, the two Lunarian cats followed after their target, keeping a good distance between him and themselves so they wouldn't be seen too soon.

They found a perfect opportunity, though, as he was passing through the park and no one else seemed to be around. But just as they were about to hurry and catch up to him, he stopped in his tracks and turned, finally catching them in his sights.

They hesitated for a moment, glancing at each other quickly. Then, looking back at the redhead, Artemis slowly padded up to him, meowing softly before rubbing up against the human's leg.

Minamino Shuuichi looked on curiously before slowly kneeling down and offering his hand to the white feline. "I'm not too much of a cat person," he admitted, gently scratching Artemis behind the ear. "But if you don't mind, then I guess I don't…"

Luna finally came up behind her companion, purring as she too rubbed up against the redhead. Minamino placed down his briefcase and began petting her with his free hand, watching both cats carefully.

"That's interesting," he stated, mostly to himself. "What are the chances that you both would have a crescent moon marking on your forehead?"

The two only meowed in response, though managed a quick look at each other. Finally, after brushing off his hands, the redhead took up his briefcase once again and rose to his feet. Just as he was turning to go, however, Artemis and Luna both meowed and began to follow him.

Turning back to look at them again, Minamino blinked curiously. He took a few steps forward, watching as they walked and stopped with him.

"I suppose you two would like to follow me home?" he wondered aloud.

They slowly approached and once again rubbed their bodies against his legs, hoping that would convince him.

"Well…" he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess it would be all right…at least until I figure out if you two have any owners." Reaching down, he carefully scooped up both cats in one arm, supporting their bottom with the arm that held his briefcase. Making sure that he wasn't hurting the felines, he carried them all the way back to his apartment building.

Sneaking them past the main lobby and heading up the stairs with the cats, Minamino slowly walked through the hallway until he came to a stop in front of one of the many doors. Carefully placing them down on the ground, he then reached into his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it wide and stepping inside.

Artemis and Luna slowly entered the apartment as the redhead removed his shoes, glancing around carefully as the human closed the door behind them. As he switched on the light, they blinked rapidly until their eyes focused on the small foyer they stood in, leading down a narrow corridor. On each side there were a few doors, some of them open wide while others just barely so.

The two cats slowly followed the redhead through the hallway, taking note of the rooms as they passed. Minamino stopped at the first room on the right, opening the door wider and revealing what looked like a study, placing his briefcase against the wall by the door before continuing down the hall. Further down and to the left was an area that had no door, revealing the washer and dryer that sat in the dark middle. On either side of the machines was a door; though both doors were mostly closed, the door on the left was open enough to reveal the bathroom sink.

The walls of the narrow hallway soon spread out and led into the kitchen. A table with a few chairs rested in the middle, surrounded by the counters and appliances along the wall. On the table was a blue vase where a bright crimson rose was tucked inside. Beyond the kitchen were two more rooms almost side-by-side; one room was hidden behind a wooden door, but the other lacked a door and freely exposed the living area.

The two cats sat on the kitchen floor, watching as Minamino opened one of the cabinet doors and pulled out two bowls. Placing them on the counter, he opened his nearly empty refrigerator and pulled out a container of milk, pouring some into the two bowls. After placing the milk away, he then placed the two bowls on the ground in front of the felines.

"Here you go," he said with a small smile. "I hope this is all right, but I unfortunately don't have much else to offer you."

Both cats meowed softly, and happily began lapping up the offered treat. Satisfied, the redhead rose again to his feet and headed for the closed room, opening the door and revealing the bedroom. Rummaging around inside for a moment, he returned with a small bundle in his hands before heading down the hall and disappearing into one of the rooms.

Artemis and Luna waited for a while, drinking the milk that was given to them until they heard the unmistakable sound of running water. Their ears twitching to the sound, they lifted their heads to look at each other.

"So what do you think?" Luna asked softly, glancing towards the way the redhead disappeared.

"He seems like a pretty normal guy to me," Artemis admitted. "I'm not getting any bad feeling from him."

The black cat frowned, puzzled. "Neither do I," she said. "I don't suppose it would hurt to take a look around, though…"

Artemis nodded, and the two bounded into the rooms nearest the kitchen. He carefully slipped through the opening that led into the bedroom, glancing around even though there wasn't much to look at. The bed rested at one end of the room along the wall, underneath an open window where the cooling air of the coming evening gently blew in. Beside the bed was a nightstand where a picture frame and a small lamp rested. On the opposite wall was a wooden dresser where the redhead placed his wallet, keys, and cell phone, and by the foot of the bed near the doorway was a large closet.

Next door, Luna was in the small living area, which again didn't have much. A small sofa sat against the wall that separated it from the bedroom, and in front of it was a wooden coffee table where another picture frame and two remotes were neatly placed. Against the opposite wall was a small television set on a black wooden stand. The glass door protected the inner electronics and DVDs.

The two cats met once again in the kitchen before heading back down the hallway together. As they passed by the area where the washer and dryer were, they could see the light underneath one of the doors.

The door to the study was still open from before, giving the felines a chance to look inside. A small bookshelf rested against the farthest wall; each shelf housed a various number of books as well as another picture frame. Across the doorway was a chair neatly pushed into a wooden desk, and from where they stood they could see the open, dark laptop screen beside a small pile of textbooks.

Backing out of the study, the cats took a look at the foyer again, noting the hooks for coats that hung by the wall adjacent to the door, and the pairs of shoes lined up in the lower wooden step. All in all, it seemed like a normal apartment belonging to a normal person.

"There aren't even many places to look around in," Artemis huffed, shattering the heavy silence between them. "Unless you wanna search his closet, or sock drawer or something…"

Luna shook her head, leading the white cat back into the kitchen. "I don't think that would do much good either," she acknowledged. "If he _did_ have something to hide, it probably would be difficult for even us to find."

Artemis shrugged, returning his attention to his bowl of milk when the creaking of a door reached both their ears. They looked up to see Minamino reentering the kitchen, dressed in a pale blue, long-sleeved shirt and black sweat pants. A white towel was draped over his head to dry his long crimson hair, as well as keep the wet strands out of his face. With a soft, content sigh, the young teacher was about to sit at the table when a dull buzzing echoed from the bedroom.

The cats watched curiously as Minamino opened the door wider and headed for his dresser, picking up the small cell phone, opening it and placing it to his ear. "Hello?" he stated. After a moment, his emerald eyes lit up as a small smile spread across his face. "Ah! How are you, Kaa-san?"

The black and white felines glanced at each other as the redhead listened to the speaker on the other line. Then he replied, "Yes, I'm doing fine. I'm sorry I haven't called, but I've been busy trying to settle down over here." He paused again, then laughed quietly. "Yes, I know you warned me that this would happen. I'm managing, though, so please don't worry."

Minamino stepped out of the bedroom and entered the kitchen once again as he listened to his mother speaking. "No," he said, "I just arrived home a few moments ago…Oh, no, today was a teaching day. Tomorrow I have classes."

Pulling the towel off his head and over his shoulders, the redhead nodded a little to whatever his mother was telling him. "I'm fine, Kaa-san, honestly. When I have more time to settle, I promise I'll call. Although with Shuiichi-kun to take care of, you'll probably forget all about me." Whatever the woman's reaction, Minamino laughed once again. "It was only a joke, Kaa-san."

He was quiet again as the other spoke, leaning against the table as he listened patiently. "Yes, I know. I'm okay, I promise…Yes, I will…All right. Please give Hatanaka-san and Shuiichi-kun my regards…I love you, too. Good night, Kaa-san." Taking a breath, he closed his phone and placed it down on the table.

Glancing at her companion, the black cat then looked up at the redhead and meowed softly. Kneeling down, he smiled as he gently scratched her head.

"My mother tends to worry sometimes," he explained. "She's especially worried now, since this is the first time I've lived on my own. She'll relax eventually, though…" With a small laugh, he added jokingly, "At least I hope so."

The door chime sounded throughout the apartment, and the redhead looked up curiously. "What now?" he wondered as he slowly rose to his feet. Luna then padded back over next to Artemis, who was just finishing up his milk as Minamino headed back through the hallway towards the front door. The black cat began lapping up her drink when they heard the redhead state in surprise, "Eh? Chiba-san?"

"Good evening, Minamino-san," they heard the familiar voice of the prince respond. Their position, though, blocked them from seeing him or visa versa. Instead, they could only listen to the conversation he and the redhead were having. "I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time."

"Not at all," Minamino assured. "Would you like to come in?"

"I can't stay, to tell the truth," Mamoru replied. "I only came by to drop this off. I wasn't sure if you've had any time to pick up anything yet…"

"I haven't, actually," the redhead stated. "I've only been able to buy a few minor things, so this is in fact a pleasant donation. I really appreciate it, Chiba-san."

"Well, I was worried that you hadn't had time to buy anything to eat, and I'm glad I could help."

The redhead sighed. "You're right, unfortunately. I've only managed to buy things day to day thus far, though I hope to have time to get more supplies later in the week." There was a small pause, followed by the redhead clearing his throat. "Anyway, I suppose I shouldn't keep you if you have somewhere else to be."

"Right," Mamoru replied. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

"All right. Have a nice night, Chiba-san."

It was only after the two bid their goodbyes that Artemis carefully peaked around the corner, looking down the hallway to see Minamino closing the door. As the redhead came back toward the kitchen, the white cat could see the bento box he held in one hand. Noticing that the teacher caught him, he meowed as curiously as he could.

"My next door neighbor," the redhead explained, placing the bento box on the table. "I haven't had the opportunity to get groceries, so he was nice enough to buy me something for dinner. I'll have to find a way to pay him back…"

As the redhead sat down to his meal, Artemis and Luna exchanged uncertain looks, both unsure of what to think of this Minamino Shuuichi. After all, even the most convincing evil creature disguised as a human would never talk about repaying an act of kindness, especially when the only ones who'd hear of it were two seemingly-normal cats.

* * *

Kurama wasn't entirely sure what to think about those cats.

He knew there was something strange about them. Aside from the crescent moon markings on both their foreheads (which he _knew_ couldn't have been a coincidence), he visited Kuwabara's residence and spent enough time with Eikichi to realize that these two didn't behave like ordinary cats.

He was used to seeing a cat watching him, and he'd seen Kuwabara's cat staring at him more than once. However, he was a little surprised to notice the more…thoughtful expression in the eyes of these two felines. He caught the covert glances they tried to give each other, trading unspoken questions when they thought he didn't see them. He also wasn't used to cats studying him the way these cats did so, as though they were waiting for him to do…something.

They also seemed to be aware of what he was saying, and he recognized the understanding in their eyes as he spoke to him. They listened to everything he said…rather well, in fact, and it made him wonder…

The palace of the Millennium Kingdom was once protected by special cats…

He was a little hesitant about leaving them in his apartment while he attended his classes. As he set out that morning, the cats refused to follow him as they did the night before. He did end up leaving them, but he worried a bit throughout the day. During the lengthy break between classes, he took some time to buy some proper food to feed the cats before returning to his apartment, and he was glad to see the place still in one piece with the two cats curled up at the foot of his bed.

After they ate, however, they began acting a bit strange once again. They pawed at the door for a bit, asking to be let out, so Kurama opened it and led them down until they all stood before the apartment building. But when the cats began to head away, they both turned back to look at him and waited. For a brief moment, he was a little confused about their actions until he caught the clear expression in the white cat's eyes.

So he followed behind the two felines as they led him down the streets and through the city, wondering where they intended to take him. He recognized some of the places they passed, but it took him a while longer to realize that he had been in this neighborhood before.

He identified the building that he visited the previous day, and the chance meeting with the girls at the Crown Fruit Parlor. The cats, however, sat at the entrance next door, under the sign that read 'Crown Game Center.'

As Kurama finally reached the spot where the cats were, and vaguely wondered why he never noticed this building before and if it was owned by the same management as the Crown Fruit Parlor, the automatic glass door suddenly opened as a familiar blur of gold and red dashed out of the center. The redhead stiffened a bit when the figure knocked into him, but he quickly grabbed the girl's shoulders to keep her from losing her balance…again.

The blonde gasped. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to –!" When she looked up at him, her sapphire eyes widened. "Minamino-sensei!"

While at first surprised and amused for once again running into this student by chance, the feelings quickly gave way to concern as he noticed the anxious expression on her face. "Is anything wrong, Aino-san?" he asked.

She blushed slightly, pulling away from him and rubbing her arm. "Uh, well, sorta…" she stuttered a reply. Struggling to form an explanation, she averted her eyes toward the ground and found the two cats that rubbed against the teacher's legs. "Luna! Artemis!"

Kurama took a step back as the girl knelt down, scooping both cats into her arms and hugging them to her. "Are these your cats, Aino-san?"

With a relieved smile, she jumped up to her feet. "Well, only Artemis," she said, motioning to the white cat in one arm. Motioning to the black cat in her other arm, she added, "This is Luna, and she belongs to Usagi-chan."

Slipping his hands into his pockets, the redhead smiled a little. "Luna and Artemis, huh? So you and Tsukino-san gave them those names because of the crescent moon markings on their foreheads?"

"Uh…yeah, that's right." She laughed a little nervously. "Artemis was named after the Greek goddess of the moon, but it…wasn't until much later that I found out he was a boy cat…" She looked up at him cheerfully. "When they disappeared yesterday, we didn't think too much of it, but when they didn't come home this morning, we were so worried. Thank you so much for finding them, Minamino-sensei!"

Kurama shook his head slightly. "Actually, they followed me home yesterday afternoon…" He looked at her apologetically. "I wasn't sure if they had any owners, and I'm sorry for any apprehension I might have caused you or Tsukino-san."

She giggled and gave a small shrug. "It's not your fault, Minamino-sensei. You didn't know. We should probably put a _collar_ on these two," she added with emphasis, looking down at the cats with almost a threatening glare. The felines meowed in protest. She laughed a bit, looking up at him again. "But anyway, thanks for taking care of them, at least."

He smiled and returned with a nod. "It was no problem. I'm glad I could help." Looking down at the cats, he gently scratched both their heads. "Thanks for keeping me company last night. Perhaps we'll see each other again, ne?"

Minako looked down at the cats as they meowed, then sighed softly. "I guess I should get Luna back to Usagi-chan. You're…teaching tomorrow, right, Minamino-sensei?"

Kurama nodded. "Right. So I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"All right." With a quick bow, she turned and quickly headed down the street, calling over her shoulder as she disappeared, "See ya later, Minamino-sensei!"

The redhead stood and watched as she left, waiting until she completely vanished from his sights before finally turning and slowly heading back to his apartment. A thoughtful frown tipped the corners of his mouth as he carefully turned each thought in his mind.

If that were the case, it would make sense. The feeling he had whenever he was around Aino Minako or Tsukino Usagi…maybe even the other girls and Chiba Mamoru; the faint sense of power and the unusual energy that he sensed from each of them; Aino and Tsukino's cats with the crescent moon marks on their foreheads and atypical cat behavior…

If they all were connected to the Silver Millennium, as he suspected they were, then everything would make much more sense…


	5. Chapter 4

"I appreciate you taking the time to show me around, Chiba-san," Kurama said, the breeze around them softening his words.

"I'm glad I could help," the raven-haired man replied. "I know how difficult it is to be in an unfamiliar place, on top of working and studying. Have you managed to settle down all right?"

"Well enough, for now. I still feel as though I'm living from day to day, but I've survived so far." Kurama winced a little as the wind whipped his crimson mane into a wild frenzy, and he paused for a moment to pull his hair back into a loose ponytail.

As Mamoru waited for his neighbor, he glanced around their surroundings. "There's a supermarket close by. Would you like to stop by and pick up a few things?"

The two resumed to walk at a leisurely place, allowing the redhead to consider the suggestion. "Maybe I'll go there later," he finally said after a glance at his watch. "I'm meeting someone from the phone company today to install a landline in my apartment."

Mamoru nodded in understanding. "We can take a shortcut through the park," he said, motioning towards the green estate. With the redhead's nod of agreement, the two men turned into the park and made their way back to their apartment building.

As they traveled deeper into the park, however, they soon came across two familiar golden-haired girls, sitting on a stone bench beneath one of the park's large trees. Between the girls sat a small boy, sad eyes fixed on the remote control box in front of him as he ignored whatever attempt the girls tried to cheer him up.

The two men slowed as they neared, watching the scene with curious eyes. When they were close enough, Mamoru said softly, "Usa-ko?"

Both girls looked up, slightly startled, but the dumpling-haired one relaxed at the sight of her boyfriend. "Mamo-chan!" she said.

Minako, on the other hand, blinked in surprise. "Minamino-sensei?"

Kurama's eyes drifted from her to the boy next to her. "Is everything all right?" he wondered.

The boy on the bench sniffled suddenly, and Usagi looked at him with a small frown. "Well," she began slowly, "this kid lost his toy airplane."

"It's not lost," Minako objected. "It's just…stuck in the tree."

Kurama and Mamoru both glanced at the tree towering over them from behind the bench. "This tree?" Mamoru asked, walking around the bench to better look up at the tree's branches.

The boy nodded, sniffling again. "I-I…was just trying to fl-fly it," he finally said in a soft, pitiful voice. "But the wind blew it into th-the tree."

"I don't…see it," the raven-haired man said, circling the tree once again to be sure.

The boy's bottom lip quivered, and he seemed to try his hardest not to cry. Minako gently patted his back. "There, there," she said as soothingly as possible. "Maybe you can get a new one."

The child shook his head vigorously. "My papa gave it to me for my birthday, and we were gonna fly it together when he came back from a business trip. I wanted to practice, so I could be ready when Papa comes home. But if I lose it, Papa and I can't play with it…" He sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

Watching the little boy for a moment longer, Kurama then walked up to the tree and place his hand to the trunk. He knew it was a slight risk, especially with Mamoru so close by, but that did not stop him from allowing his energy to pulse into the tree to determine where the toy was located. The leaves rustled as his energy caused the branches to sway, and he hoped the breeze would be enough to cover the excessive movement.

Looking up and pretending to search for the plane, he then lowered his hand. "Oh…" he said, drawing the others' attention, "I think I see it."

The boy's face lit up hopefully. "Really, Oniisan?"

Kurama nodded, looking from the tree to the stone bench and quickly calculating in his mind. The lowest branch wasn't too high for him, and he could normally make it with a simple jump. However, it was just high enough that the others would notice something odd if he reached it from the ground. The bench looked just about the right height, though… "May I ask you three to move away for a moment?"

"Uh…okay," Minako said, leading the child to stand at one end of the bench while Usagi joined Mamoru on the other. When the bench was clear, Kurama climbed up on the seat, balancing on the stone back rest.

"Be careful, Minamino-sensei," Minako said. For some reason, the genuine concern in her voice made Kurama smile.

The jump was too easy now, but he did his best to make it seem like an effort to the others. Once he grabbed hold of the lowest limb, he smoothly pulled himself up to sit on it before climbing the rest of the way up.

He knew that the further up he climbed, the more the branches and leaves hid him from the view of the others below. And yet he could still feel their eyes watching him, which was somehow enough to keep him from manipulating the tree with his energy any further. It would have been helpful, though, as the branches grew thinner and weaker the higher he climbed. It would have been too easy to break them under his weight.

Still, he managed to reach the cluster of branches where the airplane was, and he carefully untangled the toy from the tree's grasp. Inspecting the plane for any damages, Kurama then glanced up. He could see the rest of the park between the leaves, dancing as the wind blew between them. And as he sat – balancing on a branch, feeling the thick trunk against his back, and the sudden smell of impending rain filling his senses, he was surprised to find himself thinking of home. He imagined for a moment that, if he looked down, he would see his mother waiting for him on the ground below, with that familiar smile on her lips…

A small, tentative sound cut through his nostalgia, "Oniisan?"

The image of his brother flitted through his mind, but it was not Shuiichi's voice he heard. With a small shake of his head, he called down, "Yes, I found it. I'm coming back down."

He took his time descending from the tree, testing each branch below him before resting his weight on it. When he finally reached the lowest branch, he slipped down and let himself dangle for a moment, hanging from the branch with one hand as the other carefully handed the toy plane to Mamoru. Then he released his hold, dropping the distance to the ground and landing gracefully on his feet.

"It's a little scratched up," Mamoru said, placing the plane in the eager child's hands, "but it should still work all right."

No longer upset, the boy seemed different as he fidgeted excitedly, a large smile on his small, round face. "Thank you, Oniisan!" he exclaimed, bowing slightly to Kurama. "Thank you so much!"

Kurama smiled. "You're welcome. But maybe you should take that home. I think a storm's coming, and you won't be able to fly that out here."

The boy pouted, but a glance at the darkening sky prevented him from arguing. "Okay," he answered softly. With a last respectful bow to the group, the boy then skipped off.

When the child was gone, Minako looked at the redhead with sparkling eyes. "Minamino-sensei," she seemed to swoon, "you looked so awesome climbing that tree!"

Turning to her, Kurama raised a curious brow. "Oh? How so?"

"I…I'm not sure how to explain it. When you pulled yourself up onto the branch, you looked so strong, and it seemed so natural to you. And coming down you were so…charming, and you just seemed so…cool," she finished lamely with a small shrug, blushing a little as though embarrassed.

Kurama chuckled softly, running pale fingers through his crimson bangs in a humble gesture. "Well, actually, I used to do a lot of tree climbing when I was younger," he said.

"Really?" Minako asked, smiling as though the statement was the most interesting thing ever spoken. "Maybe that's why it seemed so easy for you."

"I guess so."

"But was everything all right?" Mamoru asked suddenly. "There was a moment when you just seemed to…stop."

"I almost thought you were stuck," Usagi admitted with a giggle.

Kurama shook his head. "No, everything was fine. I just…I was suddenly feeling a little homesick, I guess."

Minako blinked. "Homesick?" she echoed curiously.

Kurama nodded, glancing up at the tree with a small smile. "When I was a child, there was a Sakura tree behind the house where my mother and I lived. I loved to climb up there all the time, especially when it bloomed, and I would stay up there for hours looking out at the neighborhood until my mother would come and get me."

His smile slowly faded as the memory returned once again. He hadn't thought of it since his fight with Shigure the Osteopath several years ago. So what brought the memory back now? Was it really _just_ being up in the tree? Or…

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Minako giggled. "Minamino-sensei," she said, "you must have been so adorable as a child."

Kurama laughed. "That's what my mother likes to tell people," he replied playfully.

"Um…Minamino-sensei," Usagi said glancing at the sky nervously, "you mentioned that a storm was coming?"

Glancing toward the dumpling haired girl, the fox nodded. "At least I think so. It seems like it will start raining soon."

Minako groaned. "Great. That's something I don't need right now."

Kurama frowned, taking in the girl's thin sky blue, V-cut blouse and thin white mini-skirt. She certainly wasn't dressed for rain. "Perhaps it would be best if you headed on home as well."

A sudden spark shot out from the cloud above them, silencing the girl before she could reply. Soon it was followed by the crack of thunder, and Usagi jumped and clung to her boyfriend, her scream trailing at the end of the rumbling echo.

"Tsukino-san!" Kurama said, concern emphasizing the alarm in his voice. "Are you all right?"

The dumpling-haired girl shuddered, her eyes shut as she buried herself deeper into Mamoru's protective embrace. "I _hate_ thunder!" she whined.

Mamoru glanced up at the sky, as the scent of rain grew stronger. "Maybe you two should wait out the storm at my place," he offered, looking to Minako as he spoke.

"Uh…" Minako hesitated, glancing at the redhead. "Sure…I guess. Thanks, Mamoru-san." Still, she continued to eye her teacher hopefully, as though waiting for him to say something.

Instead, Kurama remained silent for a moment. He understood what she wanted, and in any other circumstance, he would have happily offered her his own apartment as a shelter from the rain. It would probably be more convenient for Mamoru and Usagi, who most likely would enjoy some time alone, plus it would have given him a polite opportunity to get to know Minako better…to determine if his hypothesis of who she _really_ is was correct. But he knew that the social implications of his position prevented him from such.

Even after just one week of teaching, he knew of the rumors about him already spreading among students and teachers alike. Most were harmless talk concerning trivial matters such as his hobbies or how he spent his days when not teaching or in class. There were also many positive comments towards him. But there were also some who've witnessed his several encounters with Aino Minako, both in and outside of school, and many wondered if something outside of the normal teacher-student relationship was developing.

Normally, he wouldn't mind if that was the case. There was… _something_ about her, and he would have liked to understand what that was. But he knew how that would have looked to others, and he didn't want to do anything that would cause her any trouble. As her teacher, it was his responsibility to look after her, even concerning something like this.

"We should get going, Minamino-san," he heard Mamoru say. "You mentioned you had an appointment with the phone company, right? We should go so you won't be late."

He looked toward the raven-haired man with a grateful smile. Mamoru understood the situation, and he knew the problems that could arise if he got too close to these girls – his students. That's why Mamoru kept trying to help him. Mamoru offered Minako to wait the storm out in his apartment so Kurama wouldn't feel obligated to do so, and he mentioned the appointment with the phone company so Minako wouldn't question it.

Still, though he saw the understanding realization in Minako's eyes, the disappointment he felt from her made him feel guilty somehow. He would have to find a way to make it up to her.

Another roar of thunder crashed above them, forcing another scream from Usagi. Kurama watched Mamoru, who silently told him that he had to take Usagi and go on ahead, whisper something to the frightened girl before leading her through the park. Then the redhead turned to Minako. "Shall we go?" he asked with a small smile.

Minako frowned, a little confused by his behavior. He could see the question in her eyes – _Does he want to hang out with me or not?_ But then she shook it off with a smile of her own and nodded. "Okay. Let's go!"

Kurama returned the nod, and the two of them followed after Mamoru and Usagi. The girl soon began chatting about her week – all the moments he _hadn't_ been with her – and asking him some questions about his classes at the university. He found he didn't mind telling her, though. Since this was the closest he was allowed with her, he might as well make the most of their time.

* * *

The bell for lunch barely sounded before Makoto shot up and quickly gathered her things.

"Where are you going, Mako-chan?" Usagi wondered.

"I'll be right back," the brunette assured her. "I just wanna catch Minamino-sensei."

Minako looked up sharply at the mention of the redhead's name. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Makoto grinned, playing with her bag. "I've got something that's sure to win him over…Or at least warm him up to me."

"What would that be?" Ami asked, voicing all three girls' curiosity.

"You'll see." They followed the taller girl to the door. "I just hope to catch him before his groupies do…"

She barely got the words out as she slid the door open, only to find her way blocked by a wall of other female students. All of them were standing around and waiting for their turn to speak to the red-haired teacher, still stuck in the entryway of the classroom next door by some girls talking animatedly.

"Looks like the crowd has already shown up," Ami quipped, her head shaking in slight disapproval.

"Poor Minamino-sensei can't even get out," Usagi said.

Makoto huffed, pulling out a large bento box from her bag. "Man! I really hope I can give this to him."

"Yeah," Minako retorted, looking around at the rest of the girls, "good luck with that."

"Is it really appropriate to give him gifts?" the warrior of wisdom wondered.

"Hey, this is important!" Makoto insisted.

"How do you know he'll like it?" Minako wondered, a competitive edge in her voice. "How much do you know about Minamino-sensei anyway?" She flashed a smug smile. "I bet you didn't know he used to climb trees when he was a kid. He told me that himself."

"Minako-chan…" Usagi said gently.

Makoto frowned slightly. "No, I didn't know that." Then she matched Minako's haughty look with one of her own. "But I bet you don't know what his favorite food is."

The three other girls blinked in surprise. "You know his favorite food?" Minako asked.

The warrior of protection grinned. "You may have gotten a lead running into him all the time, but _this_ ," she emphasized by tapping the bento box, "is definitely gonna tip things in my favor."

Usagi and Ami exchanged uncertain glances as Minako growled. This wasn't the first time Makoto and Minako had fought over the same guy. Luckily, they had learned from their past arguments, as this competition was tamer than previous ones. But as the two fought for Minamino-sensei's attention, Usagi and Ami had to wonder if either one would win.

They were all drawn back to reality by the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat, and all the girls in the hall turned to see Nakagawa-sensei, patiently standing just at the edge of the crowd.

"Ah, Nakagawa-sensei," Minamino-sensei said, and anyone who listened carefully enough could hear the relief in his voice. Politely excusing himself from the girls he was speaking to, he weaved his way through the crowd and approached her. "I apologize. Have you been waiting long?"

The older woman shook her head. "Not very. Now stop bothering these girls," she added with a soft teasing tone. "Just because _you_ have no lunch is no reason to keep the students from eating theirs."

The red-haired man smiled. "Of course," he said. Turning to the students, he bowed slightly. "I apologize, everyone. Please enjoy your lunch period."

An indignant cry suddenly rose from the crowd, and the students began bombarding him with concern.

"You have no lunch _again_ , Minamino-sensei?!"

"How can you _live_ like that, Minamino-sensei?!"

"You haven't had time to settle down or buy groceries?!"

"You must be so hungry!"

"Poor Minamino-sensei!"

"I know! You can share _my_ lunch, Minamino-sensei!"

"No wait, have some of _mine_ , Minamino-sensei!"

"Try mine, Sensei!"

"Have mine!"

"Girls, girls!" Minamino-sensei called, trying to pacify the group. He glanced at Nakagawa-sensei, who seemed to be watching with mild amusement behind her glasses. Turning his attention back to the students, he said, "I appreciate all of your concern…but I couldn't take any of your lunches." He waited for the wave of concerned protests to pass. "You're all still young, and it's important for you to be well-nourished."

Nakagawa-sensei gave a soft laugh. "You're certainly one to talk, Minamino-sensei."

The redhead simply smiled in response before turning back to the students. "Besides, I'll be fine, and you shouldn't worry about me. Just go on and enjoy your lunch period before it's time for class."

At this point, Makoto finally pushed her way up to the front of the crowd with Minako right behind her. "Minamino-sensei," the brunette said, "what if someone gave you your own lunch?"

Minamino frowned slightly, uncertain. "Kino-san…"

"I know you say not to worry," Makoto said, slowly approaching him and holding up the bento box, "but we can't help it, since you never seem to eat lunch when you're teaching. And…" she added shyly, "I know it's not much, but…I made you some Inarizushi!"

Whatever the red-haired teacher was going to say died as his body froze, his eyes widening ever so slightly. "What?"

Makoto smiled and removed the bento box lid, revealing four rows, each with three pieces of the tofu-wrapped pockets of sushi. "I…overheard you talking with Nakagawa-sensei last week," the brunette confessed, "and you mentioned how much you like Inarizushi. I'm sorry there isn't anything else, but the aburaage took a long time to make, so I didn't have time for anything else."

"So you made this from scratch?" Minamino wondered.

Makoto nodded. "Yes. I tried to be creative, though, so you'd have a complete meal, even though it's all Inarizushi." Pointing to the first row, she said, "This kind is just plain rice with toasted sesame seeds. These," she pointed to the second row, "have eel and shiitake mushrooms mixed with the rice. This kind is filled will a somen noodle salad, and these last ones are topped with tamago and green onions."

"You certainly went through a lot of trouble, Kino-san," the redhead commented as he continued to eye the sushi.

"It's no trouble," Makoto replied, brushing off the remark. She paused for a moment, thoughtful, before saying, "Maybe you should try one first, though. I haven't had a chance to taste them yet, and I wouldn't want you to take all of them if they aren't any good."

Minako shot her friend a withering glare. She had a feeling that Makoto knew _exactly_ how it tasted, and was only saying that so everyone could see Minamino-sensei enjoying the food she made for him.

Still, the warrior of love watched the red-haired teacher hesitate for a moment before slowly reaching into the bento box and removing one of the plain-rice sushi. He examined it, taking an experimental whiff. And then, to the surprise of Minako and everyone else in the hallway, Minamino popped the entire piece of sushi into his mouth.

The crowd watched in stunned silence as Minamino chewed thoughtfully, savoring the taste of the food. Normally, the tofu skin on its own was enough to fill someone's mouth. With all the stuffing, an entire piece of Inarizushi was too much to eat in one sitting, and doing so might cause a person to choke. Yet Minamino continued to chew it easily, as though he had only taken a small bite instead of the whole thing.

As he swallowed, Minamino's emerald eyes seemed to light up. "It's delicious, Kino-san!" he said.

Snapping out of her shock, Makoto blinked up at him. "Really?" she asked, unable to form any other response in that instance.

He nodded. "It's one of the best Inarizushi I've ever had."

The warrior from Jupiter couldn't help but smile at the genuine tone in his voice. "I'm glad you like it," she said. Replacing the lid on the box, she then offered it to him.

Minamino reached out to accept the gift with an almost…eager?…smile on his lips. Then he paused, his smile slowly fading as though realizing just where he was. "Um…well…" he faltered.

"You might as well take it," Nakagawa-sensei piped up suddenly. "You said it yourself, Minamino-sensei. It's important to be well-nourished." She smiled. "What kind of teacher would you be if you didn't set a good example for your students?"

The red-haired man blinked at her, then turned back to Makoto. "Thank you," he said, finally accepting the bento box with a small smile.

But Minako saw the difference in his smile now, compared to the one before. While the other smile had been so open, so genuine and truly happy, _this_ smile was rather reserved and politely guarded – the kind of smile a teacher would give his students to keep some space between them.

She had never noticed before, and she wondered if that was because Minamino-sensei only gave her _this_ kind of smile every time they met. Had he ever given her the other smile – his _real_ smile – like the one he just gave Makoto?

As Minamino and Nakagawa-sensei left, Minako watched on until they were out of sight, listening as the crowd buzzed around her.

"Did you see Minamino-sensei's face?"

"I didn't know he would like Inarizushi that much!"

"He looked so cute while he was eating though, didn't he?"

"Almost like a little kid!"

"I wonder if _I_ should make some Inarizushi for him…"

The chattering trickled off as the crowd dispersed, leaving only the four Sailor Soldiers in the hallway.

"Wow, Mako-chan!" Usagi exclaimed. "He really did like your Inarizushi!"

Makoto nodded, equally impressed. "Even _I_ didn't think it'd work that well!"

Minako scoffed as indifferently as she could manage. "He was probably just really hungry. I hear starving people will eat just about anything."

"Maybe," Ami said in her most logical tone, "but I don't think Minamino-sensei would normally be so willing to accept food from a student. He even looked as though he was going to decline Mako-chan's until he found out what it was."

Makoto glanced at Minako with a small smirk, and the blond girl pouted slightly. Now she had to do something equally impressive to keep Minamino-sense interested in her, but she couldn't copy Makoto's tactic; she couldn't make Inarizushi to save her life, and nothing else seemed good enough now.

So how in the world could she compete with that?

* * *

Kurama frowned as he ran his finger over the spines of the books on the shelf. Pausing for a moment, he then pulled out one of the books and quickly flipped through it. Satisfied with its content, he added the tome to the growing collection in his arms.

When he finished picking out the books he wanted, he checked their prices and tallied the tab to make sure he had enough. Then he made his way to the male cashier, glancing at the rain pouring outside. He wondered if he had enough time to drop the books off at his apartment before heading back to campus.

"Minamino-sensei?" a voice that was becoming too familiar said, drawing him out of his musings.

The fox teen turned and smiled at the girl. "Hello, Aino-san," he said. After running into her almost everyday, he had stopped being surprised to see her on days he wasn't teaching.

Minako blinked as she noted the stack of books he carried. "Are those for your classes?" she wondered, tipping her head to the books.

"Some of them," Kurama replied, continuing towards the cash register. The girl followed along beside him. "Some of them are for my own amusement."

The girl rolled her eyes. "You're just like Ami-chan. She buys a mountain of books at a time too."

Kurama chuckled. "Is that right?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised she can finish any of them." The girl frowned then, concern growing in her sapphire eyes. "But don't you have other things you should spend your money on? Like…food?"

"Actually, I did find some time today to finally get some groceries. So I should be all set for a while."

"Oh." Minako sighed in what seemed to be relief. "That's good." Then with a teasing smile, she added, "So no more lunch-less lunch periods?"

The redhead laughed softly. "I suppose not."

He couldn't help but sense her sudden disappointment, but he couldn't figure out what caused it. He didn't have much time to dwell on it either, as he placed the books on the cashier's counter. Turning to her, he said, "Would you like to go first, Aino-san?"

"Huh?" She blinked as he pointed to the two books in her hands. "Oh…" She blushed slightly. "Um…okay, I guess. Thanks."

She placed the books on the counter and retrieved her wallet from her school bag as the cashier scanned the prices. But her face fell when the total came up on the register. "Oh, shoot…!"

"What's wrong?" Kurama asked.

She held up both books and looked between them. "I thought I had enough money for both, but I guess I really only have enough to buy one."

Kurama watched as she lifted one book up, looking at it before lifting the other as though weighing out which one she should buy. In one hand was a historical reference book, and he abruptly remembered the history test he had to give the students in a few days. In her other hand was a manga book for a series that he was surprised he recognized.

He caught the blonde girl glance at him from the corner of her eyes, and he already knew which book she would pick. He knew that it was a move to impress him, but he still felt a little guilty that she wanted to change because of him – that she felt she couldn't be herself because she thought he would like her any less.

Minako sighed then, predictably placing the reference book back down on the counter and sliding it toward the clerk. "I'll go put this back," she offered, holding up the manga book.

Struck with an impulsive idea, Kurama took the book from her. "I've been looking for this one," he said.

Startled, Minako spun around to look at him. "You read manga, Minamino-sensei?" she asked.

"Not a lot, really. But I happen to like this series."

She blinked suspiciously. "Really?"

Kurama nodded. "Yes. I felt really bad for the main character when she thought she'd been…violated…and how she was willing to deal with it because she believed it happened to her friend, only to discover that it didn't."

Minako blinked again, this time in surprise. "Oh…" With a convinced nod, she slowly turned back to the cashier to pay for her book.

Looking at the manga book in his hand, Kurama frowned. It wasn't a _complete_ lie; he _had_ felt a little sorry for the main character…but the manga didn't really hold his interest. If it wasn't for Botan forcing Yusuke to read shojo manga like this one (something about helping Yusuke's relationship with Keiko…Kurama didn't try to understand the logic behind that…), and Yusuke coming to him and complaining about the manga's story, Kurama really wouldn't have heard of this series at all.

He didn't say anything, though, as Minako finished at the register and stepped aside for his turn. Placing the manga on top of his stack, he reached for his wallet as the cashier scanned the price of each book, noting with mild curiosity that Minako remained nearby.

"No after-school activities today, Aino-san?" he asked casually. If she was willing to wait for him, he could at least strike up a conversation.

The girl gave a disappointed sigh. "No…" she whined. "The Volleyball Club decided not to meet today because of the storm."

Kurama glanced out at the city, still darkened by the clouds above, and listened to the heavy pattering of the rain. "That seems like a wise decision."

"I guess. But that means _I'm_ stuck by myself because everyone else is busy! Usagi-chan's in Manga Drawing Club, Ami-chan's in Computer club, and Mako-chan's in Cooking Club… _And_ ," she added knowingly, just as Kurama opened his mouth to speak, "I have nothing to do while they're all still at school because I have to wait for Ami-chan so she can help me study for the upcoming history test."

Kurama let his reply die off as he handed some money to the cashier. Lifting his bag of books from the counter, he finally said, "What about your friend that attends the private school? Um…Hino-san?"

"Archery Club," she replied with a toss of her hand. "They went on some kind of field trip or something."

"Ah, I see." The two of them slowly left the store, standing just under the awning that protected them from the rain.

"Yeah," Minako sighed again. "That's why I wanted to buy the manga, so I have something to do until the others are all finished. But I don't have the money to buy it, and _now_ I can't get it for a _long_ time, and I'll _never_ find out what happens!"

For some reason, her over-dramatic behavior made him smile. Figuring now would be a good time to enact his idea, he said, "How about I make you a deal, Aino-san?"

She looked up at him curiously. "Deal? What kind of deal?"

Reaching into the plastic bag, Kurama pulled out the manga and held it up to her. "If you do well on the history test this week, I'll let you borrow this."

Minako's sapphire eyes seemed to light up as she grinned. "Really?" Then the smile slowly faded as she added, "Wait…How well do I have to do on the test?"

"Let's say…" Kurama pretended to think for a moment. "At least eighty percent."

She grimaced briefly, but then gave it a little more thought. "Okay…" she said after a lengthy pause, "I think I can do that."

He smiled and put the book away. "I'm sure you can, Aino-san."

With a small blush, the girl nodded.

"Well, I should get going," Kurama said, glancing at his watch. "I still have a class later today."

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Minamino-sensei. And don't forget about our deal!"

He chuckled. "You don't forget either, Aino-san." With a small wave, he stepped out from under the canopy and jogged back to his apartment. Glancing at the bag of books, a thoughtful frown spread across his lips.

'What am I doing…?' he wondered. Shaking his head, he focused on the slick road before him. 'I better be careful. It won't be good if I keep getting too close…'

And yet he began to wonder if he had any control in the matter.


	6. Chapter 5

"Um…Minako-chan?"

"Hold on…"

"But, Minako-chan…"

"Just gimme a few more minutes."

Ami frowned uncertainly, glancing at the other girls before turning back to the warrior of love. "Minako-chan," she repeated, a firmer tone in her voice.

Yet Minako did not look up from her textbook. Her brow set in deep concentration, she continued flipping through the pages.

The other Sailor Soldiers exchanged confused looks. "I've never seen Minako-chan study so hard before," Usagi remarked softly.

"She's been like this for days," Ami added thoughtfully. "I know the history test is coming up, but she might be overdoing it. She's actually studying too much!"

Makoto blinked. It really meant something for _Ami_ to say it was too much studying. "It's probably just to impress Minamino-sensei," she replied with a wave of her hand. "Since he's the one giving us our tests tomorrow, he'll most likely be the one grading them after school. She probably just wants to get a high score so he'll think she's smart."

Rei's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of the red-haired teacher. "How has that been going?" she wondered. "Has anything strange happened?"

Ami, the only one who took Rei's warning seriously thus far, shook her head. "There hasn't been anything out of the ordinary. He seems like a normal human to me."

Rei frowned deeply, still not convinced. She let the matter drop, however, as all their attention returned to Minako. The book she was reading fell onto the table with a sharp thump as the girl yawned widely. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose in an effort to wake herself up.

Reaching over, Ami closed the discarded textbook. "Minako-chan," she said, "you really should take a break."

"Can't," Minako replied, picking up the book again. "The test's tomorrow, and I have to keep studying."

"But you've been studying so hard lately!" Usagi argued, grabbing the book before Minako could open it again. "You need to rest, even for a little bit."

"Besides," Rei added, "if you don't know it by now, cramming isn't going to help."

Minako was about to protest when another yawn interrupted her.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Makoto said, "It's getting pretty late, anyway. Maybe we should call it a night."

"That might be a good idea," Ami agreed, closing her own book.

Minako pouted, but said nothing as she and the other girls began cleaning up their things.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Usagi suddenly announced. She grinned as the other girls turned to look at her. "Let's get some ice cream! It's the perfect way to relax us!"

Ami, Rei, and Makoto glanced at each other, silently debating the suggestion. Then Makoto turned back to Usagi with a smile. "Actually," she said, "I could go for some ice cream."

"Sure, why not?" Rei said with a small shrug.

"I could go for something sweet right now," Ami approved.

"Sorry," Minako said softly, "I'll have to pass."

The four girls turned in surprise, watching as Minako continued to slowly pick up her things. Feeling the eyes of her friends on her, she gave them a tired smile. "You guys even said I should rest," she quipped in her defense. "I'm just gonna go home and get to bed."

Usaig frowned, suddenly noticing how the other blonde's hands seemed to shake as she held her school bag, and Minako's face seemed rather pale. "Are you okay, Minako-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine!" Minako exclaimed with a goofy grin, waving off the rabbit's concern. "I just need some sleep, that's all."

"Do you want us to walk home with you?" Ami wondered as the group of girls followed Minako to the foyer.

The Venus girl scoffed, slipping on her shoes. "Nah, don't worry about me. You guys have fun and get some ice cream." She ignored their concerned expressions as she opened the front door. Then she paused and turned back to Usagi with a cheerful smile. "Make sure to get a scoop of chocolate for me, okay?"

Although her worry did not vanish, Usagi nodded. "Sure…"

With a nod in return, Minako grinned. "See you girls tomorrow," she said, shutting the door behind her. Only after escaping her friends' watchful eyes did her smile drop, and she leaned against the door with a soft sigh. Placing a hand to her forehead, she remained there for a moment and waited for the dizziness to subside.

'That was close,' she thought, carefully pushing away from the door. She paused again, standing still until the room stopped spinning before heading down the hallway towards the elevator. 'Any longer, and they would've found out…'

She hadn't told her friends that the reason she studied so much lately was because none of the material seemed to stick. Her head was so fuzzy lately and would sometimes start throbbing painfully that she couldn't concentrate. She was having a hard time staying awake, even during the day after school. She was afraid that she might be getting sick, but so far she managed to hide all this from her friends and family. The only one who possibly suspected anything was Artemis, but luckily he was out with Luna tonight doing whatever they were doing, so he wouldn't be at home to nag her about getting to bed when she tried to study a little longer.

Slowly walking the familiar way home, Minako shivered even though she knew it wasn't that cold. She placed a hand to her forehead, but couldn't tell if she was warm or not. 'Maybe I'll make some tea when I get home,' she thought, closer her eyes to stop the wooziness that clouded her thoughts. 'Hopefully Kaa-san's not in the kitchen. I don't wanna deal with her right now…'

The sound of a blaring horn snapped her eyes open, and Minako looked up sharply to see a car speeding towards her. Her eyes widened as she gasped, but her body refused to move out of the way, frozen in place as time seemed to slow, and the headlights blinded out everything around her.

Suddenly everything went dark, and a shiver ran down her spine as a strange warmth surrounded her. Vaguely she could hear the horn fading into the squeal of tires, but all she could focus on was the scent of roses that lifted the fog from her mind. Curious, she slowly opened her eyes that she had closed on instinct, and she found herself sitting on the sidewalk underneath the light of a streetlamp. Blinking rapidly to readjust her eyes to the dark evening around her, she looked up to see Minamino-sensei crouched over her, holding her almost protectively.

"Are you all right, Aino-san?" he asked softly, concern burning in his emerald eyes.

A blush rose to her face, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the embarrassment she felt for not paying attention and almost getting run over by a car, or because he was still holding her so close. "Y-yes…" she replied, her voice a dry whisper, "I-I'm okay."

Slowly the red-haired man stood and helped her to her feet. He then moved to step back, to put some distance between them, but she held onto him. She wanted his warmth just a little bit longer.

He frowned curiously, but complied and kept his arms around her, supporting her. "Aino-san, what happened?"

"I…I don't know…" she answered honestly. "I was just…on my way home from Mako-chan's apartment and…I-I guess I wasn't paying attention and wandered into the street somehow." She looked up at him, worried. "Are you okay, though? You didn't get hurt saving me, did you, Minamino-sensei?"

The teacher's frown deepened, an unreadable expression on his face. Reaching up, he brushed some of her bangs from her eyes, and she shivered as the back of his cool hand tickled her forehead. "You're running a temperature, Aino-san," he remarked, almost idly. But his eyes gave him away.

That was when she pulled away from him, shivering again as the chilly evening air replaced his warmth. "I'm fine!" she assured cheerfully, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm probably just tired, that's all!"

He sighed softly, shrugging out of his light brown jacket. "Probably from studying too much," he said. "Isn't that right?"

She was about to object, but didn't have the chance as he stepped towards her and gently draped his jacket over her shoulders. She inhaled deeply, the smell of roses once again invading her senses, and she wrapped the jacket – still warm from him – tighter over her body.

"Aino-san," he said, his tone gently scolding, "when I said to do well on the history exam, I didn't want you to overwork yourself. Putting so much stress on yourself isn't good for you."

She fidgeted, staring down at her feet. "I…I just wanted to get a good score, that's all," she whispered.

He frowned, sliding his hands into his pockets. "The deal isn't worth getting sick over."

Minako shook her head. "It's not about our deal…not really. I just…" She sighed, letting her words trail off.

"You just what?"

Hesitantly she looked up at him, feeling suddenly shy. "I just…wanted to make you proud of me."

Minamino blinked, but he didn't get a chance to respond as the blonde continued. "You've just been working so hard to help me, Minamino-sensei, and I…I didn't want your efforts to go to waste. I just wanted to show you that I _am_ improving…like you believed I could."

"Aino-san," he replied softly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I'm already proud of you."

She looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded. "Nakagawa-sensei told me that you _have_ been improving since we started. You pay attention more in class, you're hardly ever tardy, you complete your assignments…But Aino-san, you don't have to try so hard to impress me. As long as you do your best, I know that you'll do well."

Blushing once more, she gave him a small smile. "O-okay…"

He nodded, a smile gracing his own features. "Come on," he said suddenly, patting her shoulder, "I'll walk you home."

"Ah…!" She shook her head vigorously, ignoring the headache that flooded back to her. "You don't have to go through the trouble, Minamino-sensei! I'm almost home anyway! It's not too far, and I can get there by myself!"

He chuckled softly. "I know, I know. But unlike before, you're sick, and I just want to make sure you make it home safely."

"Unlike before…?" she repeated, confused. She looked around at the street, unable to see much without the light of the streetlamp overhead. But the place, the look, the feel of it all suddenly seemed so familiar. "It this…the place where we first met?" she wondered, unsure whether to believe it or not.

"That's right," he replied with an amused smile. "The night before I started teaching at your school. Do you remember?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed, the broad smile on her lips reflecting her excitement. "I'll never forget it!"

He nodded in agreement, looking up at the streetlamp for a moment. Then, turning back to the girl, he said, "Shall we go?"

Hesitating for just a moment, Minako then nodded. "Okay…" she said softly, taking an experimental step forward. She was still a little dizzy, and her legs a little wobbly after this whole episode.

Her teacher noticed this with a worried frown and moved to stand beside her. "Do you need some help, Aino-san?" he asked, offering his arm.

Looking up at him, she smiled happily. Carefully she slipped her arm through his and held onto him for support. Then, after instructing him where to go, the two of them slowly made their way to her house.

Things were quiet between them as they walked through the evening-stained neighborhood, but Minako was too excited to speak anyway. She just couldn't believe how lucky she was! She was afraid that today would be the first day that she didn't get to see him since they met, as she'd gone straight to Makoto's apartment after school to study with the girls. But not only did he find her, he saved her from a terrible accident, like a hero or knight would save his lady. And _now_ he was walking her home, arm-in-arm, as she wore his jacket over her shoulders. If anyone saw them at that point, they would think the two of them were a couple. She giggled dreamily at the idea.

Minamino-sensei glanced at her curiously. "Something funny, Aino-san?"

"Must be the fever," she answered nervously. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was crazy. Glancing up at him, she decided to take a chance and lean a little more into him. She smiled, pleased to find that she was the perfect height to rest her head on his shoulder.

He raised a curious brow but said nothing, returning his gaze to the sidewalk before them. She guessed that he believed it was her sickness that caused her behavior, and she was glad to take the excuse for now. Truthfully, though, she was feeling a little better. His presence warmed her, and the scent of flowers that came from him cleared her headache. Even if it was only temporary, she felt better just being with him.

She was so content with the moment that she didn't notice they were in front of her house until Minamino-sensei stopped, forcing her to do the same. Looking up, she sighed softly and wished the walk could have lasted longer. Still, she released his arm, and the two of them stepped away from each other to create some distance between them.

"Thank you for taking me home, Minamino-sensei," she said, presenting him with a small, respectful bow.

He nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Make sure to get some sleep, Aino-san. You'll need rest if you want to do well on the exam."

"Okay…"

With a small smile, Minamino turned and headed back in the direction they just came from. "See you tomorrow, Aino-san," he called.

Minako lingered for a minute longer, watching as the night shadows enveloped him. With another sigh, this one of longing, she turned and headed towards the front door until she realized Minamino's jacket was still wrapped around her.

"Minamino-sensei…!" she began, turning back to look where he'd gone. But she stopped herself, knowing he was already gone. Calling for him wouldn't do much good now. Unsure of what else to do, she pulled the jacket closer and headed inside.

"I'm home!" she announced as she shut the door behind her. Quickly removing her shoes, she headed up stairs before her mother could respond or come greet her. She wasn't in the mood for any nagging or questions.

Heading for her room, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it, carelessly dropping her bag to the floor. Her head was starting to hurt again, but she wasn't entirely sure it was just because of the fever. Slowly, she removed the jacket from her shoulders and held it in her hands, fingering the soft material. The scent of roses was quickly fading, and she closed her eyes to better concentrate on the aroma. She remained like that, thinking of her red-haired teacher, until the fragrance completely disappeared.

* * *

As he looked on, all the lights in the house started going out, one room at a time…Except for the one room he was waiting for, Kurama noted wryly.

From where he sat patiently, he could see the silhouettes of the girl's parents moving throughout the house, switching off all the remaining lights until they both reconvened in the master bedroom. A few minutes later, even the light in that room went out, meaning that the parents had finally gone to bed. Now the entire house was dark, save for the one room closest to where he was.

He waited for a moment longer, just to make sure the parents were settled down enough. Then, mindful of the branches that surrounded him, he rose to his feet to get a better view of his target. Between the leaves, he could already see that, while the light in the room was still on, Minako was already asleep at her desk.

Thinking for a moment, Kurama began feeding his energy in the tree he hid in. The branch he stood on trembled, and then began to extend underneath him. The thinnest part of the limb carefully crept into the bedroom, slipping past the sleeping girl until it reached the light switch by the door. With a soft rustle of the leaves, the branch turned off the light.

As Kurama withdrew his energy, the branch began to shrink back to normal and retreated from the bedroom. Though he doubted that he would be caught (he _has_ been doing things like this for far too long), he knew that it was better to take precautions. The light would have made him easier to be seen by a curious neighbor; or, in the chance that her parents were still awake and they passed by Minako's room, he couldn't afford them entering as they wondered why their daughter's room was still lit. The last thing he wanted was to be caught breaking into a house, especially the house of one of his students.

Leaping from the branch, the fox landed on the windowsill and quietly slipped into the room in one smooth motion. Landing on the carpet in the center of the room, he knelt on the floor as his emerald eyes – shining even against the darkness – quickly surveyed the room. The bed, resting against the wall underneath the open window, was still made, the sheets pulled up and not ready for sleep yet. His eyes then turned to the desk and the girl sitting at it, softly breathing as she rested her head in her arms.

Rising to his full height, Kurama stealthily walked to the desk to get a better look. Minako had changed from her school uniform into a light yellow cotton nightgown, loose around her slender form and billowing in the gentle breeze from the open window. Her familiar red ribbon was absent, leaving wisps of gold to stray across her flushed face. Underneath the cushion of her arms – bare and pale under the shade of night – was her open textbook, as though she nodded off while trying to study a little more.

He smiled in fond exasperation and shook his head. 'Such a stubborn girl,' he though, absentmindedly brushing away the loose strands of hair from her warm cheek.

The girl murmured softly, and he snatched his hand back as she stirred in her sleep. He held his breath, watching as she buried her face deeper into her arms and shivered before settling back down.

Releasing a noiseless sigh, Kurama frowned and looked at his hand. The desire to reach out to her was strong…much stronger than he thought it would be. It somehow caused him to act without thinking, to forget about the consequences and simply _do_ something. Being around her too often and for too long was beginning to grow too dangerous.

'Focus,' he told himself sternly. 'Remember why you're here.' Regaining control of himself and suppressing the urge to just linger there, he moved back to the bed and turned the covers down. He took his time though he knew he was in a hurry, before finally moving back to the desk. With great care so he wouldn't wake the girl, he pulled her away from the desk so she was leaning back against the chair, in order to pull it out from under the desk. Slipping his arms around her – one around the middle of her back, the other under her knees – he gently lifted her up so that he was carrying her. He paused as the girl began to stir again, waiting until she was calm before slowly crossing the room again and laid her on her bed.

Kneeling by her bedside, Kurama reached into his pocket and pulled out an eyedropper partially filled with water and a thin purple flower. Though small, the long petals curved upwards to create a slender shape like that of a tube, before the tips curved outwards to leave the deep hollow center open. Removing the cap of the eyedropper with his teeth, he squeezed the contents of it into the flower and swirled the liquid around to better mix it with the flower's pollen.

Despite its size, the flower had a high concentration of pollen, and one bud was potent enough to do the job. When mixed with water, the pollen would break down and release a special enzyme that served as a cleansing agent. It could clean impurities within the body and flush out the excess hormones that resulted in overstress. Once those were rid of the system, the body could return to homeostasis and the individual could be in a more relaxed state.

When he felt the solution was mixed enough, he carefully slipped an arm underneath her once again – this time under her neck – and delicately lifted her into a sitting position, although he let her head rest back against his arm. Holding the flower over her mouth, he rested the tip of one of the petals on her bottom lip. Then, slowly, he tilted the flower up, letting the pollen mixture trickle into her mouth one drop at a time.

It felt agonizingly slow, especially since he had no idea where Minako's cat was and worried about its return. But he knew it was necessary. If she drank it too quickly, she could choke and wake up. And if he gave her too much, she might be asleep too deeply to awaken for class tomorrow, and all this effort would be in vain.

That was the point of all this, after all. If she was ill and unable to come to school, he rationalized, then she would of course miss the exam in the morning and be forced to take a make-up one. Since the make-up exam would be much more difficult than the original, it would cause Minako more unnecessary stress in her desire to do well. In order to help her, then, he needed to ensure that she was in good health.

The idea was reasonable. So why did it sound like he was just trying to convince himself?

Shaking his head, Kurama decided that he'd given her enough of the mixture. Gently he lay the girl back down and retrieved the eyedropper, using it to drain the remaining liquid from the flower. The blossom twitched at the touch of his energy, and he compelled the petals to twist amongst themselves to close the flower. Sticking the cap back on the eyedropper, he slipped both it and the flower into his pocket before rising to his feet.

Minako murmured softly in her sleep, curling onto her side facing him. With a small smile, Kurama gently pulled the covers over her body. As he did so, however, he finally noticed his jacket resting on the bottom corner of her bed.

He hesitated for a moment, debating. He _could_ take his jacket now, and it was probably a good idea to do. He knew what people might think if Minako returned it to him in public, and he couldn't take the risk. She would obviously notice it was missing, but he could possibly convince her that she'd been a little delusional in her feverish state and had only imagined him giving it to her.

Pulled out of his thoughts as the girl stirred again, he watched curiously as she shivered despite the blankets over her, and pulled her pillow closer to her. "Roses…" she whispered, a sleepy smile spreading across her lips.

He continued to observe her for a while longer, listening as her breathing eased into a deep slumber. Then he jumped gracefully over the bed and landed on the windowsill. Without looking back inside the room, he leapt into the safe shadows of the tree. Pausing only to close the window, he then disappeared into the night.

* * *

"Minamino-sensei," Nakagawa-sensei said, glancing at the red-haired teacher, "have you finished grading those tests?"

Kurama made a soft affirmative sound, not looking up from his work. "I just need to finish up entering them in the grade book."

He could hear the older woman moving around behind him, cleaning up the teacher's lounge. They were the only teachers remaining, and he felt a little bad for keeping her behind for so long (even though she _did_ offer to stay with him until he was done). But he wanted to finish grading the tests, since he knew it probably wasn't fair to grade only _one_ test to satiate his curiosity.

When he was finally done, he double-checked to make sure the right grades were entered for the correct students. His pen paused at Aino Minako's name, and he couldn't help but smile as he traced it across the page until the tip rested on her grade.

For some reason, her _83_ seemed to stand out from all the other numbers.

Satisfied with his work, he closed the grade book and put the tests away, making sure to keep them separated by class. Placing them in neat piles on Nakagawa's desk, he rose at last and pushed in his chair.

He turned to the other teacher who smiled. "Finally," she teased, packing some things into her bag. "Is everything all set?"

Kurama nodded. "The tests are all ready for you to pass out on Monday."

Nakagawa returned the nod. "Excellent work, Minamino-sensei. You did well on your first exam."

He bowed respectfully. This truly had been as much an assessment for him as it had been for the students. "I had an excellent mentor," he replied with a small smile.

"Now, now, flattery will get you nowhere," she admonished playfully, waving a scolding finger at him.

He laughed softly. "Yes, Nakagawa-sensei," he responded with another bow, this one more lighthearted.

She rolled her eyes, returning to packing her things away. "Why don't you make yourself useful and close the window?"

Glancing around, he crossed the teacher's lounge to the only open window in the room. He was about to close it when the sound of laughter reached his ears, causing him to stop. He glanced out, and from where he stood he could see the field where the Volleyball Club was practicing. They had rescheduled after the recent storm forced them to cancel one of their meeting times. Even from the distance away, his sharp eyes could easily make out Minako as she stood in front of the net, and he watched thoughtfully as she continued to play with the other club members.

When she arrived to school this morning, he immediately knew that the pollen mixture he gave her had worked, and that she was feeling much better. Still, as he passed the tests out to the class, he managed to pause by her desk and ask how she felt. Once she confirmed what he already knew, he gave her an exam and ended the conversation. When the class period was finished, he gathered the papers and headed to his next class.

He didn't have a chance to talk with her after that, which worried him at first. But by lunch, everything seemed all right. He wasn't sure if she had tried to get into contact with him, but she hadn't tried to return his jacket, which was fine with him. That way he didn't have to explain what happened.

After lunch, however, he began hearing the whispers of gossip being passed on, and more often than not his name was mentioned in the conversation. Apparently during lunch, Minako told her friends of their encounter last night, and how he had walked her home. The story was heard by nearby eavesdroppers, and began to spread to anyone who was interested. And he knew if the students kept talking about it, it wouldn't be long before the teachers caught wind of it too.

"She's good, isn't she?" Nakagawa's voice suddenly cut through his reverie, bringing him back to reality.

He turned to the older teacher quizzically. "What?"

Nakagawa leaned against the windowsill, resting her chin in her palm. "Aino-san," she clarified with a knowing smile. "She's very good, isn't she?"

Kurama frowned as he looked at the woman, caught by the guilt in his reflection on her round-rimmed glasses. "You've heard the stories, then?" he asked softly.

She shrugged, reaching up and closing the window. "So you walked her home. It was late, she was sick, and you were just making sure she was okay. It was the responsible thing to do."

"That's what I thought. But that doesn't help the rumors that there's something going on between Aino-san and me."

Nakagawa regarded him with a raised brow. " _Is_ there something going on between you two?"

"We're…friends," he replied almost hesitantly, as though reluctant to admit it.

"Oh." She shrugged again. "So what's the problem?"

His brow drew together in a puzzled frown. "Well, I know such a close relationship between a teacher and student isn't too kindly looked upon."

"Ah." Placing a thoughtful finger to her chin, Nakagawa-sensei thought for a silent moment. "Would you like to hear a secret, Minamino-sensei?"

He blinked. "All right…"

"The truth is, Minamino-sensei," she began slowly, "many of the other teachers don't consider you as one our peers."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't misunderstand what I say, Minamino-sensei," she warned. "We all enjoy working and talking with you. In fact, many of us are quite fond of you."

"But…?" he prompted.

"But some of the other teachers simply don't view you as a colleague. You've just entered college, after all, and haven't graduated, so they don't see you as a true teacher yet. Besides, you're much younger than we are. In fact, you're the same age as some of the attending students here. Honestly, most of the teachers aren't surprised that you've gotten so close to a student. They actually were expecting it."

Kurama frowned, uncertain still nipping at his mind. He was a bit surprised by this piece of information. Still, her words kept his guard up. "And you, Nakagawa-sensei?" he wondered. "What do _you_ think of me and my situation?"

The older woman once again gave him that perceptive smile, and for a moment he saw the image of his mother beneath the glasses. "I think," she answered after a small pause, "that if you're smart enough to be hired for a teaching job _before_ becoming a teacher, then you're smart enough to handle your own relationships. As long as it's what you want, and as long as you do what you feel is best, then you shouldn't worry about what other people think."

He blinked slowly as he stared at the woman. Could it really be that simple? If he could be excused for getting so close to this girl, despite their differing statuses, then they could remain friends, and he could continue getting to know her better. He had to admit how much he enjoyed his interactions with her, and he looked forward to seeing her everyday, wondering how he would run into her on days he wasn't teaching.

"But is it really all right, though?" he wondered aloud, more to himself than the other teacher.

"Like I said, your relationships are your business, and you should deal with them as you see fit. Whatever happens is between you and Aino-san, and no one else should matter."

He was startled by the wave of relief that flooded through him, as though the older woman's approval was really all he needed. Looking at her, he bowed slightly in gratitude. "Thank you for your advice, Nakagawa-sensei."

She nodded. "Of course." She then paused for a moment, before adding as an after thought, "You should be careful, though, Minamino. After all, it's understandable that you and Aino-san will soon become much closer, but there is only so much that we can let you get away with at this school."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

She laughed softly. "If you have to ask, then maybe it's nothing to worry about." Patting his shoulder, Nakagawa then turned away from the window. "We better get going."

"All right." Kurama hesitated for a moment, glancing out at Minako still on the field below. Then he followed the other teacher out.

* * *

"Darn it, I'm already late!" Minako muttered as she glanced at her watch. "The movie's already starting! The girls are gonna kill me for sure!" She huffed as she ran down the street. "Maybe I can blame my mom…"

She had been looking forward to seeing that particular movie ever since its release into theaters, and the girls initially decided to see it after the test yesterday. But they had to postpone when the Volleyball Club decided to meet suddenly, and Minako wanted to attend. So they switched plans and decided to let the movie wait until the weekend.

Minako was so eager to catch the movie that she even woke up early that morning to get ready. But as she was heading out the door, her mother asked her to run a quick errand and pick up some groceries for a dinner she was planning with some friends. The "quick" errand took up most of an hour, so by the time Minako was finished it was already the time she was supposed to meet her friends.

Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she glanced around her surroundings to determine where she was. She still had a way to go before reaching the theater. 'Maybe I should just take my time now,' she thought, glancing at her watch again. 'I've already missed the beginning. But the girls are still waiting for me…unless they decided to go on in without me.'

Suddenly feeling warm from her short sprint, Minako slowly removed the light brown jacket off her shoulders. The weather started to cool recently in preparation for autumn, so she had grabbed the jacket on an impulse. But she knew she was bound to run into its red-haired owner sooner or later, so she was glad to have it with her. At least she'd have an excuse to talk to him today.

Draping the jacket over one arm, Minako was about to head off again when a flash of crimson caught her attention. Looking up, she was somehow surprised to see Minamino-sensei – 'Already?' she wondered. 'It's so early…' – coming down the sidewalk as he spoke with two girls that she recognized from school. Actually, the two girls, blushing as they walked on either side of their teacher, seemed to be doing most of the talking as Minamino listened with a polite smile on his face.

Minako remained rooted to her spot, watching as the three of them slowly approached. She saw this kind of thing frequently, so it shouldn't have mattered, but she somehow still felt a twinge of jealousy whenever she saw Minamino-sensei talking with some of the other female students. Although, to be fair, she knew that the other girls were just as jealous when they saw him talking with _her_. After all, they were all struggling for the precious gift of his attention, and seeing him with other girls meant that a bit of that gift was slipping away from them.

It was very similar to a shojo manga, she decided, where the handsome teacher was being pursued by many of his female students, including the heroine of the story. The heroine, an underrated and often overlooked individual, would continue to hold onto her feelings of love despite the belief she could never compete with the other girls. Ultimately, though, the teacher would reveal that he had always loved the heroine, and the two of them would be happy.

Minamino was playing the part of the handsome teacher perfectly. She wondered, though, where _she_ fit into the story.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed the redhead glancing in her direction. His emerald eyes seemed to brighten upon seeing her, and he politely excused himself from the two girls he was talking to before leaving their company.

With a smile, Minako hurried to meet him. "Good morning, Minamino-sensei!" she greeted cheerfully when she was close enough.

"Morning, Aino-san," he responded. "I was hoping to run into you this morning."

She blinked, and for some reason she felt her cheeks warm. "Really?"

He nodded as he removed the green backpack he carried, zipping it open slowly. "I have something for you…"

She watched with wide eyes as he pulled out a familiar manga book and handed it to her. Looking at him, she hesitantly reached up, as though afraid it would disappear if she touched it. "Then…" she said slowly, "the test…?"

Minamino smiled and gently placed the book in her hands. "As we agreed, the book is yours to borrow since you received over an eighty percent on the exam."

Minako couldn't help but squeal as she hugged the book to her, spinning around triumphantly. "Thank you, Minamino-sensei!" she exclaimed.

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "You were the one who took the test, Aino-san. I had nothing to do with it."

She blushed again, averting her eyes by looking down at the manga in her arms. "Oh…" she said in suddenly realization, "I have something for you too." Shifting the manga to hold with one arm, she held out his jacket with the other. "You probably want this back, huh? Since the weather's starting to change and all."

Readjusting his bag onto his back, Minamino studied her with a small frown. "You don't have anything else with you, Aino-san?"

Minako gave a careless shrug. "It was already out, and I was too lazy to look through my closet for something warm to wear. But since you're here now, I thought I should return it to you."

The redhead seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head, kindly pushing the jacket back towards her. "Maybe you should keep it for now," he said. "It's supposed to get a little cooler later, and I don't want you getting cold."

Minako couldn't help but glance behind her teacher at the two girls, who were watching their conversation with wide eyes. "Are you sure?" she questioned softly, looking at him in concern. "You don't need it?"

He smiled. He either didn't notice that the two girls were still there, or he just didn't care. "I'm all right," he insisted. "I'd prefer to know that you were taken care of, since you were sick just recently. Besides, I'll be indoors most of the day, so I should be able to stay warm."

She hesitated for just a moment before holding the jacket close to her again. "Well…okay. If you're sure."

"It's fine," he reassured her. With a playful smile, he added, "Just don't lose it, okay?"

"I won't," she replied with a small giggle.

He nodded once before glancing at his watch. "I better get going. I have a paper to research for."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks. I'm probably going to need it." Just as he was about to go, however, he paused and looked back at her. "We ran into each other earlier than we normally do, though. So maybe I'll see you later."

Her heart skipped a beat at the idea that he _wanted_ to see her again, but she did her best to keep her cool. "Maybe," she replied as casually as possible. "It's still early, after all."

He chuckled. "Right." Glancing at the two girls who still remained, he gave them a polite nod before continuing on his way.

The three students lingered for a moment, watching until the redhead was out of sight. Then Minako turned to the other girls, who suddenly seemed to be ignoring her. Unsure of what else they could do, the two turned and headed back in the direction they came from, whispering softly between them. But Minako found she didn't care as she looked at the manga and jacket still in her arms, holding them closer to her and giggling to herself.

She was _definitely_ the heroine of this story.


	7. Chapter 6

"I think we're lost…"

"We're not lost."

"We have no idea where we are! I think that means we're lost!"

"Look, I told you before; I know _exactly_ where we're going."

"And I told _you_ before; I'd believe you if you would just take a look at the friggin' map!"

A scoff. "I don't need to look at the map."

A growl, followed by the flutter of paper as the map was waved about. "This is no time to mess around, Urameshi!"

"Would you relax, Kuwabara? We'll get there."

Minako released a breath, blowing her golden bangs out of her eyes as she watched the two guys – they looked around her age, but she wasn't exactly sure – continue to argue. She didn't mean to spy on them, but they had been arguing like that for the past ten minutes since they wandered into the park, and she had nothing better to do as she and the girls waited for Mamoru and Minamino-sensei to arrive.

The Venus girl sighed, sitting back against the bench and resting her folded hands on her lap. As she watched the clouds that lazy floated across the sky, she couldn't resist the small smile that formed on her lips. Thing were going so well lately, getting to spend so much time with Minamino-sensei, that it was almost too good to be true. She had always fantasized about it, but she never imagined that she would ever get to hang out with him outside of class like this; just as two regular teenagers, instead of a student and her teacher.

They had to be careful of course, since she didn't want to get Minamino-sensei in trouble. They took precautions so people wouldn't wonder why a teacher like him would spend so much time with his students. Minamino-sensei could only be around when Mamoru and Usagi were there together, so he could give the excuse that he was really hanging out with his neighbor and friend who just happened to know some of his students from school. Luckily Mamoru was nice enough to agree being the justification, though he also wondered why Minamino wanted to spend time with the girls.

She hadn't told any of them yet, but she was pretty sure that Minamino-sensei was usually around to see her. Ever since that one morning when he let her borrow the manga book, he seemed much more relaxed around her. And when they bumped into each other on days when he wasn't teaching (which still happened often), he didn't seem to mind being around her. But still, Minamino-sensei seemed the most comfortable on days like this, when they planned to have the whole group together; him, Mamoru, her, and the girls. She was sure, though, that was only because he didn't want people to think he had one favorite student.

But she knew better. She _knew_ Minamino-sensei really wanted to see _her_. Now if only she could get some time _alone_ with him…

"Urameshi! Would you just listen for a second?!"

"Give it a rest, Kuwabara!"

Minako released an exasperated sigh. "Are those two _still_ going at it?"

"Unfortunately," Makoto replied, crossing her arms in irritation.

Minako leaned forward a little and rested her chin in her palm as she and the other girls continued to observe the arguing males. Judging by their accents and the map one of the guys had, they were most definitely from out of town. The man holding the map was tall, and his long, dark green pants seemed to make him taller somehow. He wore a black turtleneck sweater that seemed to emphasize his burly form, and as he stood in a defensive position in front of his traveling companion, she could clearly see that he was a fighter. His most noticeable feature, though, was probably the bright orange hair on the top of his head.

At least it was, until he turned around and she caught a glimpse of his face. She made a slight face, but continued to watch him curiously. Though he wasn't the most…attractive person in the world (if she wasn't so nice, she might've called him ugly), he had a certain charm that she couldn't help but notice.

The second guy seemed to be a bit of his opposite, at least in appearance. Where the first guy stood tall and straight, the other guy was shorter and preferred to slouch. The first guy had fair skin and brightly-colored hair; the second was tan and had slicked-back black hair. And while the first guy's small black eyes displayed the range of emotions on the otherwise serious, long and thin face; the smirk on the round and childlike face of the second guy seemed to offset the grim expression in his russet eyes.

She couldn't deny that there was something interesting about the second guy, though. He wore black jeans and a baggy white shirt, partially hidden under his loose red jacket that was designed with flaming skulls. His hands casually in his pockets, he seemed to display the stereotypical tough-guy attitude. And for some reason, she thought it was kind of cute in a way.

"Urameshi!" the tall carrot top said, cutting through her musings. "Can't we just ask for directions or something?"

The raven-haired one, Urameshi, rolled his eyes and punched the other's shoulder. "Don't be such a chick, Kuwabara!"

Kuwabara punched him back. "Who's a chick?!"

Makoto scoffed suddenly, clearly offended by their implication. "What a bunch of jerks," she muttered.

Rei shook her head, brushing back strands of hair as a small breeze blew by. "Men are so obnoxious," she said.

"Oh? Well, hopefully not all of us are."

The girls turned to see Mamoru and Minamino-sensei approaching. The red-haired teacher turned to Rei, a playful smile on his lips. "Surely you know _some_ men who aren't, Hino-san?" he asked.

The Mars warrior huffed, her violet eyes barely holding back a glare. "Mamoru-san is the _only_ one I know who isn't," she retorted.

"Rei-chan!" Minako hissed.

"Don't take it personally, Minamino-sensei," Ami said, trying to keep back the tension that was rising in their fellow Senshi. "Rei-chan is like this with most men."

Minamino simply chuckled. "So I've noticed."

Minako shot Rei a small glare, but the priestess simply looked away. The only problem with Minamino-sensei hanging out with them was that he was also spending more time around Rei. The fiery girl was already wary of men to begin with, but she insisted there was still something about Minamino-sensei that couldn't be trusted. And the more time the two spent around each other, the harder a time Rei had of keeping her misgivings of him a secret.

So far, Minamino-sensei seemed to take it all in stride, and he didn't seem to mind how cold she was to him. But Minako feared that if Rei kept that kind of attitude, he would get tired of it and stop hanging out with them…with _her_.

"What's going on there?" Mamoru wondered, indicating the nearby scene.

The girls turned back to the two guys who were now wrestling in the middle of the park. ""I think they're visiting," Usagi replied with a shrug.

"Looks like they could use some help," Minamino said with an amused smile.

"Doesn't seem like they'd take any," Makoto said disdainfully.

"They'd be stubborn about it," Rei added. "Just like most guys are."

Mamoru and Minamino glanced at each other, and the redhead simply shrugged. "Well, if there's nothing else," Mamoru said slowly, "we should get going."

Minako jumped to her feet, ready to follow Mamoru, Makoto, and Rei as they began to head off. But she paused when she noticed that Ami, Usagi, and Minamino were still watching the two guys wrestling.

"Hey," she said, trying to get their attention. She noticed that the other three had stopped and waited for them to catch up. "Aren't you guys coming?"

"We really should help them," Ami said, even as she slowly stood from the bench.

"Well, as Kino-san said, we can't help them if they don't want it," Minamino said, the smile still on his lips. "And if they don't notice us, we can't offer our assistance."

Suddenly, as they continued watching, Urameshi grabbed Kuwabara and pulled him into a headlock. The taller one struggled to try and get free, and in the tussle the breeze pulled the map out of his hand. It fluttered as it drifted away, unnoticed by either of the two males.

As the piece of paper came closer, Usagi bent down and picked it up before the wind could take it farther. Rising to her full height, she held the map out as she called to the two boys. "A-ano…excuse me…you dropped your map."

The two either didn't hear her or simply ignored her as they continued fighting.

"Forget it, Usagi-chan," Makoto called to the rabbit. "If they get in trouble because they lost their map, it's their problem." But Usagi seemed a little hesitant, and looked at the map in her hands.

"May I try, Tsukino-san?" Minamino offered, holding out his hand. Looking at him, the dumpling-haired girl nodded and handed him the map. He accepted it from her and started to fold it as he headed for the two guys, now wrestling on the ground.

If anyone could get those two guys to listen, Minako was sure that Minamino-sensei could. But as she watched, her eyes widened when her nice, polite teacher used the map to reach down and whap both boys on the head. They both recoiled and looked at the redhead in surprise.

She expected that the boys would get angry or something. But instead, the one called Urameshi just blinked. "Oh hey," he said. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Minamino replied. Though Minako couldn't see his face, she thought she heard a smile in his tone. "You two certainly know how to draw attention to yourselves."

Urameshi smirked and jumped to his feet. "Whatever works," he said with a shrug. Then he turned to Kuwabara. "See? I told ya we'd find him."

Kuwabara snorted, rubbing the back of his head. "What're you talking about, Urameshi? _He_ found _us_."

"It wasn't hard," Minamino said. "But what are you guys doing here?"

"What, we can't come by and visit a buddy for a while?" Urameshi asked, pretending to sound hurt.

"You should have called, though. I would've been glad to go meet you at the train station."

"So we wanted to surprise ya."

"It was Urameshi's idea," Kuwabara muttered, finally getting to his feet. Then he hit the raven-haired teen's arm. "I told you we shoulda called."

Minamino shook his head a little as Urameshi once again hit back.

Curiosity finally got the better of her, and Minako quietly tiptoed forward until she stood behind her teacher. "Minamino-sensei?"

The two guys, who looked as though they were about to fight again, stopped when they finally noticed her as Minamino turned to look at her.

"Minamino-sensei," Minako said again, feeling the curious gaze of her friends on her back. "Are they friends of yours?"

"Oh, yes," the redhead said, as though just remembering she was there. Waving the others to come over, he then indicated the two boys behind him. "These are two of my friends from back home. This is Kuwabara Kazuma-kun…"

"Hi," the tall carrot top said.

"And this is Urameshi Yusuke."

The raven-haired teen grinned and held up a hand. "Yo," he said.

Then, turning to his two friends, Minamino gestured to the taller man behind him. "Yusuke, Kuwabara-kun, this is my neighbor at my apartment building, Chiba Mamoru-san."

Mamoru bowed politely. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"And these are some of my students at the school where I teach," he continued, indicating the four girls as he spoke their names, "Aino-san, Tsukino-san, Mizuno-san, and Kino-san."

The four girls bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you," they echoed.

"And their friend, Hino-san," he finished, pointing out the priestess.

Rei simply nodded, her violet eyes fixed on Yusuke.

Kuwabara frowned, looking at Minamino curiously. "You hang out with your students a lot?" he wondered.

For some reason, Minako suddenly felt a little nervous. It was one thing to risk his reputation as a teacher around strangers. But she didn't want his _friends_ to think badly of him as a _person_.

Yet as she glanced at the redhead, he simply smiled as he shifted into the well-rehearsed excuse they've used for the past few weeks. "Actually, Chiba-san and I were just passing by when we encountered the girls."

"I'm a student at KO University as well," Mamoru added. "And we were on our way to the library when I saw Usa-ko."

"Chiba-san and Tsukino-san happen to be dating, you see," Minamino explained.

"Ah…" Kuwabara said, nodding a little. But Minako could tell he wasn't entirely convinced.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Yusuke said, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyway…" He draped an arm over the redhead's shoulders as he looked at the group. "Mind if we steal him for today? Kuwabara and I came all this way, and we need to hang out with him for a while before we head home."

Minamino's emerald eyes rolled good-naturedly. Then he turned to the group, but Minako was certain his attention was directed mostly on her. "You wouldn't mind, right?" he asked, a little hopefully. "They've just arrived, and I'd like to spend some time with them…"

"Oh yeah, of course!" Minako answered before the rest could say anything. "You need to spend time with your friends, after all! You haven't seen them in a while, so you've probably missed them. What's that saying? 'An absent heart is always growing'?"

"Minako-chan…" Makoto groaned, exasperated.

A small smile appeared on the redhead's lips. "I believe the saying is, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.'"

She blushed, then laughed nervously. "I guess you could say it that way…" she floundered, rubbing the back of her head.

"You go on ahead," Mamoru said suddenly. "We could always go to the library some other time."

Minamino nodded. "I appreciate your understanding." Then, looking at the girls, he said, "I'll see you at school."

"Yes, Minamino-sensei," the Azabu Juuban students replied.

"C'mon already, let's get going," Yusuke said impatiently, grabbing two discarded knapsacks that no one noticed before and tossing one to Kuwabara.

Minamino raised a curious eyebrow as the three of them began to head away. "Planning on staying the night?"

"Saves you the trouble of offering," Yusuke replied with a grin.

"So what's a good place to eat around here?" Kuwabara asked, just barely audible as they walked out of range. "I'm starving!"

Rei continued to watch with narrow eyes, even as the three teens disappeared from sight. "They're the same," she said softly.

They all turned towards her. "What are?" Ami wondered.

"Minamino and his friend, Urameshi." The temple Miko shook her head and finally turned away from their direction. "The feeling of their energy is almost the same."

Mamoru nodded. "I noticed that too. It's different, but there is a similar sense of darkness about them too."

"What about the other one? Kuwabara-san?" Ami asked.

Rei shook her head. "I didn't sense anything like that about him. But I also felt that he isn't an ordinary person either…"

Ami placed a hand to her chin. "It can't be a coincidence that they're here, then," she said thoughtfully. "If they're meeting Minamino-sensei, they might be planning something. We might have to be careful."

"Really?" Usagi wondered. "They didn't seem that bad to me."

"Except those two guys seemed kinda rude," Makoto added disdainfully.

"No kidding," Minako agreed. She continued looking in the direction her teacher and his friends had gone in, clearly not paying attention to the concern her friends spoke with. "I wonder how someone like Minamino-sensei can be friends with guys like _them_ …"

* * *

"This is a nice place, Kurama," Yusuke said as he flopped onto the couch. He folded his arms behind his head as he stretched out. "I can see why you came here."

Kurama sat in a chair beside the couch. "Well, don't forget, I came here because I'm attending the university."

"How _is_ the university, by the way?" Kuwabara wondered, sitting beside the raven-haired teen on the couch. "Are your classes all right?"

Kurama nodded. "They're fine, and I'm doing well in them. And the university is as good as its reputation claims it to be."

"Yeah?" Kuwabara grinned. "Think this would be a good place for me to study?"

"Yes, I think you'd be able to do well, if you really wanted to attend here."

Yusuke scoffed. "So, you're leaving too, Kuwabara?" he asked.

Kuwabara shrugged and leaned back against the couch. "Well, we'll see," he replied casually.

"Damn, makes me almost wish _I_ could go to college."

Kurama looked at him with a skeptical smile. "Really?"

The Mazoku snorted with a laugh. "No."

"I figured as much." The redhead paused for a moment, letting the silence settle for a moment before looking back at the taller teen. "Didn't you have school today, Kuwabara-kun?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…" Kuwabara rubbed his nose a bit. "A water pipe burst yesterday or something, so they had to cancel classes until it got fixed."

"I see," Kurama replied, eyeing his friends thoughtfully. "I was wondering how you two arrived this early in the afternoon."

"Urameshi actually wanted to leave later," Kuwabara said, giving the other a sideways glance. "I had to remind him how long it would take to get here."

"I thought he was exaggerating," Yusuke commented, leaning forward and looking at Kurama. "But we were actually on that train for _six_ hours! Is that how long it took you to get here?"

The red-haired fox nodded. "More or less. Five or six hours is the usual travel time for the train."

Yusuke frowned. "And there's no way to cut down that time?"

"None that I've found so far. Why?" he finally asked, his emerald eyes watching the two younger teens carefully. "Should I find a faster way home soon?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara glanced at each other, exchanging hesitant expressions. "We don't know yet," the young Toushin finally admitted.

Kurama sighed softly. He already had an idea of where this conversation was heading, and there was no point in dragging it out any longer. "What have you heard from Hiei?"

Yusuke rubbed the back of his neck. "Y'know those demons that Hiei told us about?"

"The ones that were causing some unrest in the Makai, yes."

"Yeah, them…Well, apparently, they started some kinda riot at the border."

Kurama blinked. "A riot?" he echoed.

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah. They managed to rile up some other demons to support them – mostly lower-class, I think – and they went to revolt against Enki by starting a little brawl along the border."

The redhead frowned, silent at first. "But Hiei and the others are all right." It wasn't a question; judging by the other's demeanor, he was sure of that.

"Yeah, they're fine. Hiei said that they weren't planning on pushing past the border anyway. It was just a protest to get Enki's attention, and no one was hurt or anything. But the demons who started it all…"

"They used all the chaos to get past the border patrol and escape into the Ningenkai," the fox finished. His mind easily slipped into the strategic warrior he was known to be. He thought for a moment, then asked, "Does anyone know who was in charge?"

"Apparently, no one's seen the leader guy," Kuwabara said. "When they were gathering support, it was mostly other lower-class demons doing all the grunt work. No one knows what the head demon looks like."

"Then the protest was a cover up so this demon could slip past the border without being seen." Kurama folded his arms over his torso. For a demon to travel from the Makai to the Ningenkai, they had to pass a border check to prevent hostile demons from disturbing the still-unsteady peace between the worlds. To put so much effort into making certain no one could identify them could mean that these demons, especially the head demon, had malevolent intentions.

"Has anything happened after the riot?" he wondered.

"No…" Yusuke replied, sounding a little puzzled by it himself. "Hiei came by to tell us about it after it happened, but there's been nothing since then."

"They're probably biding their time," Kuwabara pointed out. "Waiting for the right moment to strike."

"But he technically hasn't done anything wrong," Yusuke grumbled. "So I can't do anything about it yet."

"You have to wait for him to make the first move," Kurama said with an air of understanding. "And we don't know what this demon is capable of?"

Yusuke sighed. "Not a clue. But considering what he's already done, we might need your help."

Kurama nodded. Manipulating a number of demons and organizing them into a rebellion in order to distract the patrol and escape into the Ningenkai unnoticed was a clever plan. "If only I could get back there quick enough…"

The three friends sat, letting the silence hang over them. There had to be _something_ they could do…But what?

* * *

The sound of familiar voices arguing roused Kurama from sleep, but he kept his eyes closed and settled deeper into his bed. It was Sunday, his only day to rest without worrying about teaching or classes or work. And after they all stayed up so late the previous night, he was surprised Yusuke and Kuwabara weren't trying to sleep in as well.

They spent most of the night trying to come up with some kind of plan, but nothing really seemed to work out. Without knowing what these demons were capable of or what they were after, Kurama couldn't think of anything useful to help the situation. That, he knew, was part of the reason the demons wanted to slip in unknown and undetected; to get past anyone who could try to stop them.

It was a cunning strategy. The risk of drawing attention to themselves by rallying other demons and instigating an uprising so close to the Ningenkai was made up for by concealing the identity of the one in charge. The only possible thing they could do is try to find the head demon by locating the ones directly under him, but that could develop some problems. They would have to try to get accurate descriptions from the ones involved in the riot of who recruited them, and then try to locate those demons and hope they were still working under their leader. And that was assuming _those_ demons weren't working for _another_ group of demons working under the leader. It could involve a complicated hierarchy that could take too much time, and by then the demon could set off whatever he was planning.

So instead they tried to think of a way to get him back in case the demon finally _did_ strike, but they ran into problems there as well. As they had to point out several times, there was nothing fast enough to shorten the travel time between there and Tokyo. So Kurama suggested that he take time off from his classes and work in order to head back with them. He could probably stay with one of them, or even at Genkai's temple so he wouldn't have to make an excuse to his family why he was home.

But not knowing when the demons would strike – or even _if_ they would strike – posed a bit of a predicament. They didn't know how long it would take, and he could miss a lot of time in his classes and work. The missing classes weren't any trouble – he had done it before in high school – but the work was a little tougher. If he was gone too long, the school might have to fire him.

Yusuke and Kuwabara also were against him missing classes if he could help it. He had made the plan to attend the university when things were still peaceful, they argued, and it wouldn't be fair to ask him to give it up if he didn't have to. Besides, Yusuke said, _he_ was the spirit detective, not Kurama.

Kurama wanted to point out that he really didn't _need_ to go to college, and he wanted to help if he could. But then he also realized that if he went back with them and the demons discovered his return, the demons might attack prematurely because they felt threatened. They could feel that Yusuke was gathering forces against them, and they would rise to the challenge by making the first move. Without knowing what their _real_ intention was, that could prove to be a critical mistake. A mistake that, for now, was avoidable if he remained in Tokyo.

They really had no choice but to wait it all out and see what happened. And though Kurama hated the feeling of being unprepared, they had such little information to go on. So what else could they do?

He heard the sound of shuffling feet stop at his bedroom door. "Yo, fox boy," Yusuke said. "You plannin' on sleeping all day?"

The redhead smiled, but didn't open his eyes. "One can only hope," he replied playfully.

"Yeah, well, you can sleep when you're dead. Now get up so we can get some breakfast, I'm hungry."

With a small laugh, Kurama rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes before opening them, sitting up slowly. He noticed with some curiosity that Yusuke was already dressed for going out.

Leaning against the doorframe, Yusuke grinned at the other's expression. "Kuwabara and I thought we could head out for breakfast."

Throwing off his sheets, Kurama slipped out of bed. "How long have you two been up?" he wondered as he stretched his body.

"Long enough. Now hurry up already. We don't have all day, y'know."

"Ah…" Kurama nodded, remembering that the two had to head back home sometime today. "All right." Deciding to leave his bed for later, he grabbed some clothes and moved past Yusuke to get to the bathroom.

He stopped, however, when he saw Kuwabara grinning as he stood behind the kitchen table, where a tall box rested in its center. The box was wrapped in white paper, decorated with little colored balloons, and topped with a bright red bow. Blinking curiously, he looked at Yusuke.

The raven-haired teen shrugged. "When your mom found out I was coming up here to visit you, she wanted me to give you this."

"Ah, I see." Kurama nodded, turning his attention back to the package. That made more sense, considering he never told either of them. They knew now, though, and he suddenly understood why they were awake and all ready to go before he was. Slowly approaching the table, he carefully picked up the wrapped box and found the small card behind the bow, written in his mother's familiar script.

_Happy birthday Shuuichi!  
Love, Kaa-san, Tou-san, Shuiichi_

* * *

"Geez!" Minako huffed as she stomped out of the Crown Game Center. "I don't see what the big deal is! So what if he has weird friends? That doesn't mean anything!"

She had just spent the last hour reading over the information Luna and Artemis gave her about Minamino-sensei's friends, Kuwabara Kazuma and Urameshi Yusuke. After the three of them left yesterday, the Sailor Senshi found the cats to tell them what happened. Rei also mentioned the feeling she had of Urameshi, and how he and Minamino were similar. So Luna and Artemis spent most of the previous night trying to find information about Minamino's friends.

Earlier that morning, Artemis came to get her and took her to their secret base under the gaming center. There, he showed her the information they could find. Apparently, both boys were a year younger than Minamino-sensei. They never attended any of the same schools as Minamino himself, but the two boys had both attended the same junior high together. Kuwabara Kazuma was a previous delinquent, the head of a small gang at Sarayashiki Junior High. After moving onto high school, however, he stoppeded getting into trouble. He was a good student who did very well, and was preparing to continue on to college.

Urameshi Yusuke was also a previous delinquent at Sarayashiki, but that was all the information about him as far as school records were concerned. He didn't do that well in his classes, he had frequent absences, and he barely managed to graduate. There were no high school records, so they assumed that he didn't attend, but they did find a statement that mentioned his ramen noodle business. There was also a listing for him as a 'spirit detective'…whatever that meant.

But perhaps the strangest piece of information about him was a hospital-issued certificate that sited the time and place…of his death.

No one was sure what to think about that. But Artemis believed it was additional proof that something was strange about all these boys, including Minamino-sensei. After all, Artemis said while showing her the information, Minamino wasn't really from the neighborhood Kuwabara and Urameshi were from, he never attended school with either of them, and he was a good student who had no records of delinquency like they did. They didn't seem to have much in common (Minako even thought so herself, just from briefly meeting his friends), so how did they know each other in the first place?

Unless, he pointed out, there was _another_ reason that they all knew each other. And what if the feeling Rei had around Minamino was the reason he was friends with those two in the first place?

Minako scoffed as she walked, trying not to stew over all the information. "Whatever," she muttered. "What's the big deal anyway? I was at a different school when I met Usagi-chan and the others. And Rei-chan _still_ goes to a different school. And _we're_ all friends."

'That's exactly the point,' she heard Artemis say in her mind. 'After all, there's a reason all of _you_ became friends in the first place.'

Shaking her head, Minako sighed. There couldn't be anything wrong about Minamino-sensei. There just _couldn't_ be.

The girl froze suddenly as she caught a flare of crimson from the corner of her eye. She turned her head in time to see Minamino-sensei and his two friends right across the street. Her red-haired teacher and Yusuke seemed to be debating about something while Kuwabara stood off to the side, carrying a plastic bag under his arm. Suddenly, with a grin, Yusuke dragged both of them into the building they stood in front of.

Checking both sides of the road for oncoming cars, Minako then quickly crossed the street and headed towards the building. At first, she was planning to call out to Minamino and say hi to him as she always did, but she stopped herself in time before he saw her. She quickly realized that his two friends knew a lot more about him than she did, and perhaps if she listened in on them, she could learn more about him. That would certainly give her an advantage over the other girls!

With that thought in mind, she grinned and slipped inside the building.

She was surprised to find herself in a small gift store, filled with a variety of items that ranged from small novelty toys to tall stone statues. But she didn't have much time to dwell on that when she spied Minamino and his friends talking as they stood between two shelves. Quickly she ducked out of sight, creeping over to the nearest shelf and crouching behind it so they wouldn't see her from the next aisle over. She couldn't see them either, of course, but she could hear them at least.

"Hmm…how about this?" Yusuke asked.

"Urameshi…what's it for?" Kuwabara asked.

"Ya got me. I'm just trying to find something to buy. Though it'd be easier if you'd just pick something, _Shuuichi_."

Minamino sighed. "Yusuke, I've told you before, you don't have to get me anything."

"Well, Kuwabara already got you something, so I can't just let it go."

"You and Kuwabara-kun already took me out to breakfast. Isn't that enough?"

"Just humor us, would ya?" Kuwabara said. "I mean, we've known you for a few years now, and you _never_ told us when your birthday is."

"Yeah," Yusuke retorted, "if I hadn't talked to your mom, we never woulda known that it was _today_!"

Minako's eyes grew wide. 'Minamino-sensei's birthday is today?' she wondered.

Minamino chuckled softly. "Well, to be fair, if it wasn't for Kaa-san, I would never celebrate it myself. When you're as old as I am, the day of your birth is hardly worth remembering."

Yusuke snorted. "Well, suck it up. In _this_ world, birthdays are a big deal, and we _like_ celebrating them…even if it's with some lame-ass gift."

Minako frowned, a little puzzled. Something about their words were strange, but she wasn't entirely sure why.

Her thoughts were cut short, though, when she heard Yusuke say, "Hey, what're these?"

"Porcelain figures," Kuwabara replied with a tone that clearly suggested the other was an idiot. "What else?"

"Wise-ass," Yusuke countered, and it sounded as though he hit the other. "I know _what_ they are. But what are they figures _of_? They look familiar, that's all."

"That's because they're porcelain figures of the Sailor Senshi," Minamino replied. "You took notice of their picture once before, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" Yusuke said, sounding slightly intrigued now. "So these are those Sailor girls, huh?"

"Aren't there supposed to be more of them?" Kuwabara wondered. He didn't sound as interested, though.

"Mmm…yes, there should be one for each planet, other than Earth. But I think these five, the Inner Senshi, are the more well-known ones. The Outer Senshi, the ones named after the outer planets, aren't as famous if I recall correctly."

Minako blinked. Haruka-san and the others weren't as well known? She hadn't known that.

"These girls aren't all that bad-looking, after all," Yusuke appraised thoughtfully. "All right, fox boy, you seem to know a lot about these Sailors. Educate me. Which one is Sailor Moon?"

"Hmm…this one," Minamino said, and Minako imagined him pointing to one of the figurines. "They say she is the leader of all the Sailor Senshi, and that she's the most powerful of them."

Minako couldn't help but smile, as she felt the pride for her princess rise within her.

"Huh…not bad. Okay, who's this?"

"That's Sailor Jupiter. They say that of the five Inner Senshi, she is the strongest physically."

"Isn't Jupiter one of the outer planets?" Kuwabara asked. "Why is she an Inner Senshi?"

"Well, Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system," Minamino replied thoughtfully. "And since she's the strongest of the five, perhaps they needed her strength for a certain purpose."

Minako blinked. She had never thought about that before, but that could be why Jupiter was an Inner Senshi, chosen to protect the princess.

"Okay, let's see…" Yusuke said. "How about this one?"

"That's Sailor Mercury," Minamino said. "Of the five, she's the most intelligent."

"You really seem to know a lot about these girls," Kuwabara observed, a little surprised.

Minako nodded to herself. She had just been thinking that same thing.

"I find them interesting, I suppose," Minamino said, and Minako imagined him with a small smile and a shrug as he said this.

"Okay, let's see…" Yusuke said. He hadn't been paying attention to the other two at all. "Oh, so who is _this_?" She could hear the emphasis in his voice.

"That's Sailor Mars. Some believe that not only does she have the powers granted to her by her guardian planet, but she also has the power of divination."

"Huh…she's pretty hot."

"Urameshi! What's the matter with you?" Kuwabara exclaimed, disgusted. "Keiko-chan should just kill you already!"

"Hey, I'm engaged, not dead!" Yusuke retorted. "There's nothing wrong with looking. Besides, if Keiko looked like _this_ , this wouldn't be a problem!"

Kuwabara gave a sickened grunt, and Minako rolled her eyes.

"Hey, how about I get you this for your birthday?" Yusuke suggested suddenly, and she thought she heard the figurine being lifted off the shelf.

"Seriously, Urameshi?" Kuwabara said. "What the hell's he supposed to do with it?"

"I dunno. Paperweight? It'll be a nice change of pace when he gets tired of staring at books and papers. So how about it, _Shuuichi_?" Yusuke said teasingly. "You want a pretty little Sailor Mars figure to put on your desk?"

Minako pouted a little, unable to prevent the wave of jealousy. Of _course_ they would pick Sailor Mars. Rei was always noticed for how pretty she was.

She suddenly heard Minamino-sensei chuckle. "First of all, I'd like to point out that you don't _have_ to get me anything."

"Yeah, well, too bad," Yusuke replied. "You're getting something."

"Well, if you're going to insist on this…" He paused, and Minako heard something else being taken off the shelf. "I'd prefer this one."

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke asked, putting the figure he held back. "Who's that again?"

"This," Minamino said, and she heard the smile in his voice, "is Sailor Venus."

Minako slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. Did Minamino-sensei just say that…he preferred _her_ over Rei?

"Sailor Venus, huh?" Yusuke repeated. "So is she your favorite or something?"

"Mmm…you could say that, I guess," Minamino said. "I suppose I just know a little more about her, that's all. She was actually the first of them all to appear, under the codename Sailor V, and worked by herself for a year before the others turned up. She is the leader of the Inner Senshi under Sailor Moon, taking charge when Sailor Moon isn't there. And she's guarded under the planet Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love. Who," he added playfully, "used roses as a sacred floral symbol."

Minako felt a warmth in her cheeks. Minamino-sensei really did know a lot about her.

Yusuke snorted. "Yeah, yeah, lotsa sweet talk, pretty boy. Especially coming from a guy that _no girl_ wants as a boyfriend."

She blinked. How could no one want Minamino-sensei's as her boyfriend? Was that really possible?

She heard Minamino laugh softly. "I guess that's true. Oh well."

Was that really how he felt? Or was he just saying that? Minako knew how to pretend that something like this didn't matter, so she wondered if Minamino-sensei was really okay with it, or if he was just pretending too.

"Anyway," Yusuke said casually, "ya sure this is the one ya want? Speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"Yusuke, I told you don't have to…"

She imagined Yusuke rolling his eyes. "That's it, I'm paying for this."

She heard the sound of multiple footsteps headed down the aisle and quickly faded. Carefully creeping to the end of her aisle, Minako risked a peak from around the corner of the shelf to see Minamino and his friend Yusuke standing at the check-out counter. They were talking, but they were too far away for her to hear them anymore. She glanced around, trying to figure out how to get closer without being seen.

"Hey…"

"Eep!" She jumped in her surprise, barely catching herself before tumbling to the ground. Then she spun around to see Kuwabara at the other end of the aisle, watching her curiously.

"Uh…" She giggled nervously, embarrassed for being caught. She had almost forgotten about him. "Hi…"

The carrot top stared at her for a moment. "Oh…" he said, his eyes lighting up when he finally recognized her. "You're one of those girls from yesterday. One of…uh…Shuuichi's students, right?"

"Y…y-yeah…" she replied with a small bow. "Aino Minako, remember?"

He nodded, a little distracted. "Right."

"Aino-san?"

Minako turned around to see Minamino and Yusuke behind her just outside the aisle.

"Uh…heh…morning, Minamino-sensei," she said with a shy wave.

"Morning, Aino-san," the redhead replied, sounding a little puzzled. "I'm a little surprised to see you this early on a Sunday."

"Well, uh…" she floundered. She couldn't just tell him that she'd been _spying_ on him and his friends, so she scrambled for another excuse. "I-I was just, um…I was just looking for…uh…for a gift for my friend and I…I thought I'd take a look in here!"

Minamino smiled, amused. "I see. Have you found what you're looking for?"

She rubbed the back of her head, a little worried that he didn't believe her. "Um, not yet. I…might have to look somewhere else. But how about you guys?" she asked, eager to change the subject as Kuwabara went over to join his two friends. "Have you guys been enjoying your visit?"

Kuwabara and Yusuke exchanged questioning expressions. "Sure, I guess," the taller teen answered.

The raven-haired one shrugged. "It's been okay," he added.

"How long will you guys be here?" she wondered.

"Actually, we have to get going this afternoon," Kuwabara said, checking his watch. "I gotta get back in case they fixed that pipe…"

Minako blinked, turning to her teacher.

"He has school tomorrow," Minamino clarified.

"Oh yeah…" Minako made a small face, realizing that she had school the next day as well. The only thing that made that worse was that Minamino-sensei wasn't teaching that day either.

"Yo," Yusuke said, elbowing the redhead. "We gotta get going."

"Oh yes," Minamino said. He turned to Minako. "I'm sorry, Aino-san…"

"Oh, that's okay!" she said cheerfully, waving it off. "I should probably get going too!"

The four teens headed out of the store, getting ready to go their separate ways. "I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow, Aino-san," Minamino said with a wink.

She blushed and nodded. "Right," she said. Looking at his friends, she added, "It was nice meeting you, Kuwabara-san, Urameshi-san."

"Sure," Kuwabara replied. Yusuke just nodded.

Turning to Minamino, she smiled. "See you, Minamino-sensei," she said sweetly.

"See you around, Aino-san," he replied.

With another blush, Minako hurried off with a skip in her step. 'Now to find the perfect birthday gift!' she thought excitedly.

* * *

The three continued standing in front of the store, watching as the blond-haired girl headed off. Once she was out of sight, Kuwabara leaned towards the redhead. "Hey…Shuuichi?" he said slowly.

"Hm?" Kurama asked, turning to the taller one. He had asked them both to call him by his human name while around the city…just in case.

"Is there something…strange about that girl?" Kuwabara wondered.

"So you felt it too?" Yusuke asked. "I wasn't sure at first, but I thought I felt some…power from her."

"It's not just her though," the carrot top said softly. "Those other girls and that guy from yesterday…they all had that weird energy about them. It was faint…but I get the feeling it could become stronger, if they wanted it to."

Yusuke turned to the fox. "Should we look into it?" he wondered. "They might be trouble."

Kurama shook his head. "No. They _are_ powerful, but I don't think they'll be any trouble."

"Are you sure?" Kuwabara asked doubtfully. "I mean, there's definitely something _different_ about them."

"I know. But trust me, they aren't bad people. We don't need to worry about them."

"Sounds like you really know what's up with them," Yusuke said suspiciously.

"Well, I know _of_ them. But you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Yusuke snorted. "Yeah? Try us."

To that, Kurama didn't say anything. Instead, he eyed the bag that Yusuke was carrying.

Frowning, Kuwabara's eyes widened when he realized what the redhead was implying. "Oh, no way…" he muttered.

Kurama smiled – his small thoughtful smile that hid so many secrets – as he took the bag from Yusuke. "There _is_ another reason why Sailor Venus is my favorite, after all," he added softly.


	8. Chapter 7

"You _really_ didn't have to come, y'know," Minako grumbled for the umpteenth time as they stepped off the elevator.

"Are you kidding?" Makoto retorted. "A student alone in a teacher's apartment? That's just _begging_ for trouble."

"It's not like he's the type to try something…"

Makoto scoffed. "I know that! But can you imagine what would happen if people found out you were alone with him? Think of all the trouble _he'd_ be in!"

Minako frowned. She hadn't thought of that. Although she did realize that she was taking a risk going to see him at his apartment. But it was the only way to give him his present without worry.

It had been a week since Minamino-sensei's friends came to visit him, a week since the teacher's birthday. Minako had spent that time trying to find the perfect gift for him. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure what he would like. Even now, she wasn't entirely sure if the gift she got him was good enough. But after a week of looking, she knew that if she didn't get him _something_ soon, then she might never get the chance to give it to him. Plus, she didn't want him to wait any longer for a birthday present. It was, after all, probably the first time he had spent his birthday away from home.

So after finally getting something for him, she had headed straight for Minamino-sensei's apartment. But on the way there, she ran into Makoto. Though she managed to keep the birthday gift a secret, Makoto did manage to find out where she was heading. And of course, interested in Minamino herself, the brunette invited herself along.

She wasn't _too_ worried, since Makoto didn't have a birthday gift for him. But still…there were many people who found Makoto attractive as well.

As they came to a stop in front of his residence, Makoto said, "So how do you think we can get inside, Minako-chan?"

She looked at the taller girl. "What do you mean?"

"Well, do you really think he'd let us inside his apartment? Even though he's been hanging out with us, he's still our teacher. You think he'd be okay with letting students into his private home?"

"Huh…" Minako said, scratching her head. "I dunno. I guess I didn't think of that."

Makoto sighed. "You really don't think these things through, huh?"

"Like you had a plan?" Minako retorted. "At least I was brave enough to try. If you hadn't known I was coming, you wouldn't even be here!"

With a toss of her head, the warrior from Jupiter crossed her arms. "I'm just here because I don't want Minamino-sensei to get in trouble," she objected.

"No, you're here because you don't want me alone with Minamino-sensei! You're jealous because he likes me better!"

"So why are you worried that I'm here?" Makoto replied with a smirk. "Is it because you're worried that he'll pay more attention to me? Or because you're afraid that he really might not like you as much as you think, and that I might actually win his heart?"

Minako growled, her fists clenched, and the two girls glared at each other as a familiar rivalry sparked between them. But before either of them could say anything more, the door swung open and Minamino looked out curiously.

"I thought I heard voices," he said. "Aino-san, Kino-san, what are you two doing here?"

The two girls froze, unsure of what to tell him. They couldn't just tell him what they were doing there, and they both realized that if Minamino had caught them, then it was possible that other people could have also heard them. They suddenly grew very worried that they just might get their teacher in trouble after all.

Then Makoto had an idea, and she pretended to look around as though she was confused. "Uh…oh!" she said, acting as innocently as she could. "Whoops, uh…sorry, Minamino-sensei! We thought this was Mamoru-san's apartment. Right, Minako-chan?" She elbowed the blonde, snapping her out of her surprise.

"Uh, yeah!" Minako answered, trying to act cheerful. "We needed to…um…talk to Mamoru-san about something. Guess we got the wrong apartment. Sorry!"

The redhead frowned, and he clearly didn't believe them. But he simply nodded and said, "Well, it's okay. But Chiba-san is out at the moment."

"Oh…yeah?" Makoto answered nervously.

Minamino nodded. "He left a while ago."

"Ah." The two girls glanced at each other. Then Makoto replied, "Oh well, that's okay. Can't be helped, I guess. We'll just, uh…come back some other time."

"Mako-chan!" Minako protested. She knew that if she didn't give Minamino the gift now, she might never get another chance.

Watching the two girls and noticing the expression on Minako's face, the redhead sighed softly. "Well…" Sticking his head out the door, he looked around the empty hallway. When he saw that no one else was around, he looked back at the girls. "I suppose it's all right…Would you like to wait for him inside my place?"

"Yes!" the girls exclaimed excitedly. This was just the opportunity they needed.

He smiled – though Minako noticed it was his politely reserved smile – as he stepped aside to let them in. Once they both eagerly scampered inside, he checked the empty hallway once more before closing the door behind him.

Removing their shoes, Minako and Makoto glanced around the apartment, comparing what they saw to the stories Usagi told them of when she helped their teacher move in. Since then, the apartment was straightened up, looking neat and tidy, and there was a slightly sweet aroma drifting through the air. It was good to see that he seemed settled in and comfortable, especially since his slightly rough start when he first arrived.

The two girls followed their teacher as he led them through the narrow corridor of his apartment. As they passed by an open door, however, Minako couldn't help but take a peak inside. The room looked like a study, and across the room she saw the porcelain figure of Sailor Venus on the desk beside a laptop computer. With a triumphant smirk, Minako hurried to catch up to the other two.

Minamino-sensei led the girls into the sitting room. "Make yourselves comfortable," he said, motioning to the couch. "Would you girls like some tea?"

"Sure!" Minako said, but Makoto elbowed her.

"We don't want to be any trouble," the brunette replied politely.

But Minamino waved off her worry. "It's no trouble. I was about to make some anyway. Feel free to watch some television if you'd like."

"Thank you, Minamino-sensei," the girls called as he headed out to the kitchen. Then Minako reached for one of the remotes on the coffee table, but Makoto gently slapped at her hand.

"Ow! What?" Minako rubbed her hand, looking at the other girl. "He said we could!"

"C'mon, Minako-chan. We shouldn't mess with his stuff. Besides," Makoto added as a mischievous smile appeared on her lips, "this is our chance to have a real conversation with Minamino-sensei, just us and him. Don't you want to get to know him better?"

The Venus warrior's eyes lit up with understanding, and she grinned. "Oh! Yeah, okay..."

They both fell silent and looked up as the redhead returned. "Is anything wrong?" he wondered, his emerald eyes watching them curiously.

"Oh...no, nothing wrong," Makoto replied. "We just...uh...didn't feel like watching any TV."

"Ah. I see." He sat in a chair by the couch. "Well, the tea will be ready in a few minutes. I hope you girls don't mind waiting."

"That's all right, Minamino-sensei," Minako said as sweetly as she could. "We really appreciate it."

The redhead smiled. "It's no problem. I only wish I had something to go with the tea. I'm not much of a snack person, so unfortunately I don't have much else to offer you."

"We can have these!" Makoto responded quickly. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a pink plastic container. She removed the lid and revealed the small animal-shaped cookies, offering it to the teacher. "I made them in Cooking Club yesterday, but I made too many. So please, have some if you'd like!"

"Well, thank you, Kino-san," Minamino said as he took a cookie. "So, you were bringing these cookies to Chiba-san then?"

She blinked. "What?"

"You were bringing these cookies to Chiba-san, weren't you?" He smiled, and his eyes seemed to already know the real answer. "Because you two were going to see him, right?"

"Oh...right!" The two girls glanced at each other nervously. "I was going to...um...well, I like to share the food I make with others, so it doesn't go to waste. So it's all right if we enjoy them now!"

"Ah. Well, that's very generous of you." Looking at the cookie curiously, he then took a bite. "Mmm...it's delicious."

"I'm glad you like it." Makoto tossed Minako a smug smile, and the blonde simply huffed and snapped a cookie in half with her teeth.

Finishing the confectionery he held, Minamino brushed the crumbs from his hand. "So you're in Cooking Club, Kino-san?"

The warrior of protection nodded as she placed the container on the coffee table. "Yup. I love to cook, but sometimes I get a little carried away and end up making too much."

"Well, you're very good at it. I'm sure you have no trouble finding others to share your cooking with."

For some reason, Makoto blushed and glanced down at her hands.

Minako pouted a little, glancing between the two. She needed to find a way to get involved in the conversation, or else let Makoto have all the time with him. As she reached for another cookie on the table, she noticed a small white vase next to a picture frame, with a single red rose in it. Suddenly she remembered something the teacher said before, and she had an idea.

Clearing her throat, she looked at him. "Minamino-sensei?"

He turned to her. "Hmm?"

She pointed to the rose in the vase. "Do you like roses?"

He paused and appeared to consider his answer. "I suppose you can say that," he finally replied.

"Roses are my favorite flower too," both girls said together, shooting glares at each other as they spoke.

He looked amused. "Is that so?"

"Yeah!" Minako answered before Makoto could say anything. "Did you know that in Roman mythology, the goddess Venus used roses as her sacred floral symbol?"

Minamino chuckled. "Yes, I believe I've heard that before."

Minako nodded, and opened her mouth to say more. However, Makoto interrupted her by speaking first, "That's because Venus was the goddess of love, and roses are used to represent love. But did you know that the kind of love represented by a rose depends on its color?"

Minako blinked, looking at her friend curiously. She had never heard that before.

"Interesting," the redhead replied. Though the expression on his face seemed to suggest that he knew, he pointed to the red rose on the table and continued to humor the girls. "So what does a red rose symbolize?"

"Um...true love. Like, a romantic and passionate kind of love."

He nodded. "How about a white rose?"

"An innocent love. It can also represent innocence itself, and purity. And in wedding bouquets, it can be used to represent a spiritual love, for unity and a new beginning."

"How about pink?"

"Pink roses represent a first love, and can also be used to show elegance and gentleness."

"And yellow?"

Makoto thought for a moment. "Friendship, and a platonic love."

Minamino smiled in mischief. "How about a blue rose?"

The brunette blinked. "There's no such thing as a blue rose..."

"Perhaps not naturally," he replied. "Blue roses are colored by artificial means, but they are used to represent mystery and an unattainable desire."

"Oh really? I didn't know that." Makoto placed a thoughtful finger to her chin. "I should mention that to the Gardening Club."

The redhead blinked curiously. "So you're in Gardening Club as well? It must be difficult to be in two clubs in addition to your schoolwork."

"It can be, but I manage. I really love cooking and flowers, and someday I hope to own my own bakery or flower shop. So I do my best to stay in both clubs and keep my grades up."

Minamino-sensei smiled. "That's a very impressive goal, Kino-san. It will take a lot of hard work and dedication, but if those are things that you love, then I'm sure you'll get there someday."

Makoto blushed again and nodded. "I-I'll do my best," she replied softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Then, deciding to change the subject, she said, "S-so...Do you like to garden, Minamino-sensei?"

He nodded. "I do, actually. Back home, after my mother remarried and we moved into my father's house, I planted a large garden in the yard to fix it up a little."

"A rose garden?"

He grinned a little. "Well, mostly roses, I suppose. But I made sure to plant other types of flowers as well."

"Wow...that must look great."

He chuckled. "Well, my parents like it, so I suppose so."

Minako pouted again, leaning back against the couch cushions as the two began exchanging gardening tips. Her plan to be included in the conversation failed miserably. Instead of giving her something to say, it only excluded her further as well as giving Makoto something in common with Minamino-sensei; they both liked to garden and knew a lot about flowers, and Minamino-sensei really liked Makoto's cooking...

She sighed softly. Maybe Makoto would be a better match for him, after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a low whistle echoing throughout the apartment, and Minamino rose to his feet. "Sounds like the tea's ready."

"I'll help, Minamino-sensei!" Minako volunteered enthusiastically, desperate for _something_ that could help her. She swung out her legs to jump to her feet, but in doing so accidentally kicked the coffee table. The table lurched and rattled everything on it; the plastic container fell to the ground and scattered the cookies across the floor, the white vase tipped over and sent a stream of water spilling out as it clattered against the table, and the picture frame was knocked over and landed face down in the water by the vase.

The girls both jumped to their feet as the water dripped to the ground, mixing with the crumbled cookies. "Ah!" Minako cried, quickly kneeling down to try and fix the mess. "I'm so sorry, Minamino-sensei!"

The redhead didn't say anything, and instead took a step toward the table, ready to help. But the wail of the kettle in the kitchen called him back, and he seemed a little unsure of what to address first.

"You should get the tea, Minamino-sensei," Makoto said, kneeling down by Minako. "We'll take care of this."

"Well...all right," he said hesitantly. Glancing at them once more, he then escaped into the kitchen.

"Nice going, Minako-chan," Makoto whispered as they quickly gathered the cookies away from the growing puddle. "Now my cookies are ruined."

"It was just an accident!" Minako protested.

The brunette scoffed. "Right. Just admit it. You were jealous that I was able to find something that Minamino-sensei is really interested in."

"I was the one who brought it up!"

"Yeah, but _I'm_ the one who he can really talk to about it, and it's something we both like to do. You just couldn't stand the idea of us getting along so well, could you?"

They both quieted down as Minamino returned, carrying a tray with a teapot, some cups, and a roll of paper towels. Placing the tray on the table, he then tore some sheets of paper towels from the roll. "Aino-san, could you take care of the table while Kino-san and I take care of the floor?" he asked, handing her some of the sheets.

"Sure," Minako replied, ignoring her jealousy that Makoto got to work with the redhead (even if it was cleaning up a mess). Mopping up the water with the paper towels, she then righted the vase and placed the rose back inside it. Then she lifted the picture frame and dried the area before wiping the glass of the frame and setting it back down.

It was only when Minako noticed her red-haired teacher in the picture did she actually take a good look at it. Minamino stood close to the side of the picture, wearing a gray yukata decorated with thin willow branches and tied with a blue and white striped obi. To his left was his friend Kuwabara, who wore a dark tan yukata tied with a red obi and eagerly offering some cotton candy to a much shorter girl with ice-blue hair. The girl's yukata matched her hair and was decorated with white snowflakes, and she seemed pleasantly surprised by the confectionery.

On the teacher's other side and more in the middle was his friend Yusuke, wearing a white yukata checkered with black and blue squares and tied with a dark blue obi. He grinned as his arm draped over the shoulders of a shorter boy with spiky black hair, who wore a navy blue yukata with thin white stripes and tied with a black obi. The shorter boy was scowling at Yusuke and seemed to be pushing him away.

Close to them on the other side of the picture were three more girls; two brunettes and a girl with blue hair. The first brunette was shorter than the other two, but taller than the girl Kuwabara was with. She wore an orange yukata with a red lotus print, tied with a matching obi. She held a white paper fan, using it to stifle a laugh as she listened to the others. The taller brunette wore a black yukata decorated with orange slices and was secured with a plain black obi, and had a small smile on her face as she seemed to speak with an air of mischief.

Though the brunette was talking with both girls, the blue-haired girl wasn't paying full attention. She wore a light yellow yukata with red and pink shooting stars that left golden streaks behind them. She was calling out to the others in the picture behind them, waving to get their attention. The whole picture was taken in the evening, and in the background Minako could just make out some other people also dressed in yukatas.

But her eyes kept drifting back and forth among the girls in the picture, and she felt something cold suddenly form in the pit of her stomach.

"There," she heard Minamino say. "That's good enough for now."

"Are you sure, Minamino-sensei?" Makoto asked. "The broken cookies left a lot of crumbs."

"I know. I can clean that later, though." Sitting up on his knees, he brushed some crimson strands from his eyes. "How's the table, Aino-san?"

"Mmm..." she replied softly, still staring at the picture.

Minamino and Makoto exchanged curious glances, then turned back to the blonde. "What're you looking at, Minako-chan?" Makoto asked, glancing at the picture over the other's shoulder. Then her eyes lit up. "Oh! Are these more of your friends, Minamino-sensei?"

Taking a glimpse at the picture, the redhead smiled. "Yeah. That picture was taken last summer just as we were entering the festival, so we didn't realize it was being taken until afterwards."

"Well, it looks like you guys were having fun...except this guy..." Makoto pointed to the short spiky-haired boy.

"That's Hiei," Minamino said with a chuckle. "It may seem like he's irritable, but he really did enjoy himself. He was just too stubborn to admit it."

Makoto laughed softly. "I see." She looked back at the picture. "So this is Hiei-san...Yusuke-san, Kuwabara-san...what about these people?"

"Ah, of course." Minamino pointed to the small blue-haired girl. "This is Yukina-san..." Then to the tall brunette. "Shizuru-san. She's actually Kuwabara-kun's older sister." The shorter brunette. "Keiko-chan..." And finally the last girl. "Botan-chan."

"They all look...nice," Makoto said slowly, trying to hid her uncertainty as she looked at all the girls. Then she glanced at Minako, but the blonde continued to stare at the picture.

"Are...are any of those girls...your girlfriend, Minamino-sensei?" Minako blurted out.

"Minako-chan!" Makoto whispered, elbowing the other. But Minako didn't react.

"It's all right," the redhead reassured with a smile. "I don't really mind talking about it. The truth is, none of those girls are my girlfriend."

"Oh, is that so?" Makoto asked, a relieved sigh trailing her question.

Minamino chuckled and shrugged. "I guess I just wasn't what they're looking for."

Minako swallowed, and she clenched her hands tightly to keep them from shaking. "How...how can that be?" she asked, finally tearing away from the picture and turning to Minamino. "How could they not want you as their boyfriend? Don't they realize how great you are? How lucky they'd be to be with you? How can they not see that? Don't they want...you to be happy too?"

Minamino and Makoto looked at her, startled as tears began to fill her eyes. She turned away from them, surprising even herself with her reaction. But all she could think of were Yusuke's words, about how no girl wanted him as a boyfriend. And she couldn't hold back the unexpexted misery she felf for him. She suddenly didn't care about _who_ her teacher ended up with, just as long as he wasn't alone.

"Aino-san..." Minamino said softly, concerned as well as confused. Slowly he shifted closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Aino-san, it's okay. It's...it's not like that. Those girls...I'm glad that they're my friends. Keiko-chan and Yukina-san are actually with Yusuke and Kuwabara-kun. And Shizuru-san and Botan-chan...we're just friends, that's all. And I don't mind it that way."

Minako sniffled, looking up at him hesitantly. "R-really?"

He nodded. "Really. We're all just friends."

She nodded slightly, wiping away the tears in her eyes. But more seemed to well up as she asked in a small voice, "But...don't you ever get lonely?"

The redhead smiled. "Not really. Perhaps, someday, it would be nice to have someone special, like most of my friends do. But until then, I still have my family and friends. So I don't mind waiting, because I still have them."

"And it doesn't bother you?' she wondered, sniffling again. "Not having that special someone?"

Minamino sighed softly, looking at the picture as he thought of his answer. "Sometimes," he admitted, almost reluctantly. "But if it's meant to happen, it will happen. I just have to be patient and keep looking." Turning back to her, he pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her. "If she's out there...then I'm sure we'll find each other...someday."

Taking the handkerchief, Minako gave him a small smile and nodded.

"Here, drink this," Minamino said, giving her one of the tea cups. "It'll help calm you down."

Makoto watched as her friend carefully sipped at the tea, the shock of Minako's reaction finally fading. She had honestly expected her friend to be happy to still have a chance with their teacher, instead of having to worry about his girlfriend back home. But seeing the warrior of love like this, she realized that Minako was sincerely upset that he wasn't seeing anyone...that he was alone. And Minako wanted him to have a significant someone in his life.

Because Minako...truly cared about him.

Clearing her throat, Makoto quickly rose to her feet. "It's getting pretty late," she said. "Minako-chan and I should probably get going."

Looking up at her, Minamino nodded and got to his feet as well. "I suppose if you need to." He offered his hand to Minako and helped her to her feet.

"Sorry about the mess, Minamino-sensei," the golden-haired girl said softly and gave his handerkerchief back.

He shrugged and smiled. "It's no big deal. I can clean it up, it won't take long."

She hesitated for a moment, playing with her hands as she debated. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out a large package wrapped in white paper with colored polka dots. Fingering the edges of the package, she held it out to him. "Here," she said.

He blinked, slowly taking the object from her. "What's this?"

"It's...a birthday present," she replied softly. "I'm sorry it's so late."

The redhead turned the package over in his hands. "You didn't have to, Aino-san."

"I know. But I heard your friends talking last week, and...well, it's your first birthday away from home, right? So I just wanted you to still...y'know, have a good day."

Minamino smiled. "Well, thank you, Aino-san." Turning the gift once more, he carefully tore at the wrapping paper and revealed a book, _The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures_.

Minako blushed and glanced away. "I'm sorry if you don't like it. I...I wasn't really sure what to get you. So I...I just guessed."

He laughed softly as he flipped through the book. "Well, it was a good guess."

She looked at him hopefully. "Really?"

He nodded. "I enjoying learning about mythical creatures and folklore. In fact, part of the reason I'm majoring in history now is because I was first interested in the beliefs people had that shaped their way of life."

"You'll like this book then," Minako said, happier now as she pointed to the book. "It lists all kinds of magical creatures from myths and folklore from so many different countries."

"I'm sure I will," Minamino said. Looking at her, he smiled, and she couldn't help but blush when she noticed it was his true, warm smile. "Thank you, Aino-san."

She returned with a shy smile. "You're welcome."

There was something...different about the feeling around them, and Makoto felt a little awkward simply standing there, just on the outside of it. So she cleared her throat again to get their attention. "We really should go, Minako-chan," she said.

"Oh...okay." Minako nodded, glancing back at the redhead. He nodded and walked with them to the door.

"Thanks for letting us stay for a while, Minamino-sensei," Makoto said as the girls stepped out of his apartment.

"It's no problem," he replied. "I'm sorry Chiba-san isn't back yet."

"Oh...yeah...We'll just have to catch up with him some other time, I guess."

Minamino smiled knowingly. "Right." Turning to Minako, he said, "I'll see you, Aino-san."

She nodded. "See you around..."

Then he turned to Makoto. "Kino-san."

The brunette nodded. "Later, Minamino-sensei."

With one last smile, Minamino then retreated back inside and slowly closed the door.

Alone in the hallway, Makoto then turned to Minako. "You okay?" she wondered.

Releasing a shaky sigh, the blonde nodded. "I think so. I hope I haven't ruined any chance with Minamino-sensei, though."

The taller girl laughed and headed down the hall. "You really didn't notice, did you?"

Minako blinked and hurried after her. "Notice what?"

With an exasperated smile, Makoto shook her head. "Never mind. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about Minamino-sensei. I'm sure it'll be okay."

Minako was still a little puzzled, but she simply shrugged and let it drop, and the two of them fell into silence as they left the building. Makoto glanced at her friend once more, letting her fingers clench and unclench to release her lingering jealousy. She now knew that not only did Minako really care about Minamino, but their teacher also seemed to have feelings for her as well. She could tell that there was definitely something special...something _real_ between the two of them, and she knew better than to interfere with that. She knew it would just be better to take a step back and let things just fall into place.

Or...maybe it would be better if she helped Minako and Minamino-sensei get together. Because, despite everything, she really did want her friend to be happy. And it seemed that the two could _use_ a little help...


	9. Chapter 8

"Minako-chan's birthday is coming up soon..."

Kurama looked up at Mamoru who, despite speaking, kept his eyes in the book in front of him. The two of them were sitting in the university library studying for their respective courses, and the other's words were the first spoken in almost an hour. But _what_ was said was even more surprising.

"Pardon?" he finally replied, unsure if he'd heard right, though he knew he wasn't wrong.

Mamoru slowly turned a page of his book. "Minako-chan. Her birthday is coming up soon."

Kurama watched his neighbor for a moment before returning to his book. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. Usa-ko and the others are throwing her a surprise party."

"That sounds like fun."

Mamoru paused then, as though unsure of the right words to say. "Usa-ko...wanted me to invite you to the party."

Kurama looked up again, this time meeting the dark blue eyes that studied him as Marmoru waited for some kind of answer. The redhead knew that while Mamoru didn't completely mind that he spent so much time with the girls, the other man was also a little wary of _why_ he did so. Especially since he noticed Kurama only spent time with that particular group, and none of his other students. His dark-haired neighbor already seemed to suspect him of something, and spending all his free time with the civilian forms of the Sailor Senshi didn't seem to help.

Kurama did his best to seem as nonthreatening as possible, but Mamoru, though continued to act courteous, still seemed a little suspicious of him. So Kurama just kept trying.

"Why is Tsukino-san asking me to come to Aino-san's birthday party?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

Mamoru closed his book and placed it aside. "She thinks that Minako-chan would have a better birthday if you could be there."

Kurama thought for a moment. Meeting the girls in public for a small outing was one thing, but he knew how risky it would be if others learned that he was attending a student's private birthday party. "Would you also be going?"

"Well normally I wouldn't, because this kind of thing is usually something just for the girls. But if you decided to go, then I would too, just to keep things safe."

Kurama nodded. "And where would it be at?"

"I suggested Rei-chan's temple, if you wanted to go. It's in an area private enough that not many people would notice you, so it should be all right."

"I see..." Kurama replied thoughtfully. It was a good idea to have the party in a remote area where not many people would see him with the girls. And since Rei was technically not one of his students, it didn't matter too much that he was at her home. The only problem was being at the temple with Rei, who also was very suspicious of him. It shouldn't have been a big problem, but there was a chance that being at the temple would enhance the Miko's powers, and she would sense more of his youki.

Well...he would just have to be more careful.

"I think I would like to go," he said after a while.

"Really?" Mamoru asked, trying to sound casual, but looking at him with suspicious concern.

Kurama nodded, reaching into his school bag and pulling a book out. "I wouldn't mind going if it would make Aino-san happy. It might be a nice way to return the favor, since she gave me a present for _my_ birthday some weeks ago." He passed the book, his encyclopedia of magical creatures, to Mamoru to show him.

The dark-haired man took the book and looked at the cover. "This is the gift she gave you?"

"That's right. It's an interesting book, and it's about one of my favorite topics. So I would like to do something as special for Aino-san's birthday if I can."

Mamoru nodded and handed the book back. The explanation seemed to satisfy him, at least for the moment. "Usa-ko says they're planning to have the party sometime next week, on Minako-chan's actual birthday."

"That might give me some time to find a suitable present," Kurama commented idly, placing his encyclopedia under his textbook. "But I'm not too sure what Aino-san is interested in. What would be a good present for her?"

Mamoru frowned, looking a little uncomfortable. "I might be the wrong person to ask. I don't really know what she likes."

Kurama tapped the table with a pen as he tried to think. He knew Minako liked manga and volleyball, but he wasn't sure if he could find a present special enough that related to either one of those things.

"Well," Mamoru said suddenly, pulling Kurama from his thoughts, "I might know someone who could help you..."

* * *

"Oh, look at _those_!" Usagi exclaimed, pressing her face against the glass of the clothes store as they passed. "Minako-chan would look so pretty in that!"

Kurama and Mamoru stood back a bit as they watched her, keeping a safe distance from the girl so curious people who looked at her wouldn't know they were with her. "Is this really the best way to do this?" Kurama wondered, glancing at his neighbor.

Mamoru chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Usa-ko would probably know more about the kinds of things Minako-chan likes. So she could help you find a suitable gift."

Usagi suddenly gave an excited shriek, and the two men looked to see she had passed to a different store. "Look at _that_!" she said. "That looks _great_!"

The redhead laughed suddenly. "Maybe _I'm_ not the one she's helping look for gifts," he quipped. Then he laughed again as Mamoru blushed slightly, but he politely looked away.

The two went to catch up to the girl, following behind her as she continued to point out things that Minako might like (though she kept looking at Mamoru with hopeful eyes, Kurama noticed). But Kurama wasn't sure if any of the items were _good_ enough to give Minako for her birthday. He wanted to give her something different, something really special for her birthday...but as he realized that, he began to wonder why it mattered so much.

He didn't have much time to dwell on that thought, however, as a surprised gasp snapped him out of his musing. "Minako-chan!"

"Hey, Usagi-chan!" Kurama looked up to see Minako standing at the curb of the street, looking as though she had just turned the corner when Usagi did. Slowly, he and Mamoru made their way towards them.

"Good morning, Aino-san," Kurama greeted her casually. He should have guessed with his luck that this would happen some time during the day.

"Morning, Minamino-sensei!" she replied cheerfully. Then, to be respectful, she turned to the dark-haired man and added, "Morning, Mamoru-san."

Mamoru nodded. "Morning."

Glancing between the two guys and Usagi, Minako then blinked curiously. "What's going on?" she asked the dumpling-haired girl, with a brief glance at the redhead.

"Oh...um..." Usagi floundered, scratching her head nervously. She knew she couldn't tell Minako what they were really up to, but she couldn't think of an excuse.

Noticing this, Kurama cleared his throat. "Chiba-san and I were just walking around when we bumped into Tsukino-san," he said.

"Uh, yeah!" Usagi piped in as she caught on. "When I heard they were coming here, I wanted to go too!"

Minako frowned slightly, and Kurama knew that she was a little suspicious, because she realized that it was the same kind of excuse they used when he was hanging out with them. But since she didn't know that he knew about her birthday, she didn't have any other explanation for it.

"That's cool," Minako finally said, a smile slowly appearing on her face. "Mind if I tag along?"

Usagi and Mamoru briefly glanced at Kurama, but he retained his calm. "You sure you'd like to?" he asked. "I'm just doing a little shopping, it's not likely going to be interesting."

Minako laughed. "Are you kidding me? Please! I'm a girl, remember? I _love_ shopping!"

Kurama chuckled softly. "I suppose..."

"Besides," she added, a mischievous glint in her sapphire eyes, "how's it suppose to look with two guys in college hanging out with one innocent high school girl? If anything, you _need_ me to come along to at least even things out and make it look less weird."

The redhead considered this for a moment. "Actually, Aino-san, you're absolutely right. That would probably be for the best."

With a triumphant grin, Minako then grabbed Usagi's hand. "C'mon, let's take a look around!" she said, and the other blonde was all too eager to agree.

The two guys followed them at a slower pace, and when the girls were a safe distance away, Mamoru turned to Kurama. "Are you sure this is okay?" he asked.

Kurama nodded. "It should be fine."

"It'll be harder to get a present for her with her here, though."

"Well, it'd be harder to _buy_ it." Kurama smiled. "But what better way to to find out what she likes than to hear her say it herself? Besides, with Tsukino-san here, it should keep her distracted enough so she won't notice me making a note of the things she wants, and I can always come back to buy it later."

Thinking for a moment, Mamoru nodded. "Or Usa-ko and I can distract her and take her somewhere else so you can come back and get whatever it is she wants."

Kurama nodded as well. "That might work too."

As they neared the spot where the girls stood waiting for them, the door of a nearby store opened, and a girl stepped out, sweeping some dust out with a broom. She had short brown hair, tied back with a green bow, and a white smock on that covered her clothes, signifying that she was working at the store. Kurama blinked, surprised to see that he recognized her as a student from one of his classes.

"Naru-chan!" Usagi suddenly called, running up to the brunette.

"Hey, Usagi-chan!" Naru replied. Seeing the other blonde, she smiled. "Hi, Minako-chan."

"Hey, Naru-chan," Minako greeted.

Kurama and Mamoru slowed a little more, keeping back a bit away from the girls to let them talk amongst themselves, but still close enough to hear the conversation.

"Are you helping your mom today, Naru-chan?" Usagi asked.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah. She's been pretty busy lately, since she just got a new shipment of jewelry in. So I'm helping out a little."

"New jewelry?" Minako said curiously. "Like what?"

"Just a set from that new 'Teardrop' collection, you know?"

"Oh, I've heard of that collection! With those pretty yellow jewels?"

Naru nodded. "Those are the ones. And this is the first time we're selling any of them here, so mom's a little worried that people won't buy them."

"Yeah, I heard those Teardrop jewelry are really expensive, right?" Usagi said.

"They are. They actually used to be a lot more expensive because they were only sold on the black market just a few years ago, but the price dropped a bit when they became more mainstream. But they're still _really_ expensive."

"I bet they're really pretty, huh?" Minako asked, her tone a little wistful.

"They really are," Naru confirmed, switching the broom to her other hand. "Well, I've got to help my mom set up a few more things. But if you want to take a look at some of the Teardrop stuff, we've got some on display at the window."

"Okay. Thanks, Naru-chan!" Usagi said, waving as the brunette headed back inside. Then she and Minako peered into the store at the jewelry on display and immediately began giggling and 'oooh'-ing and 'aww'-ing over them.

Slowly, quietly, Kurama came up behind the girls to look at the jewelry over their shoulders, even though he already knew what jewels they were speaking of. It always surprised him how Yukina continued to come up with new designs to showcase her teargems and sell them as jewelry. But he was even more surprised that they had become as popular so far from home.

A few months after living with the Kuwabara family, Yukina had started selling her teargems because she felt bad about living there and not being able to contribute for finances. So, despite Kuwabara and Hiei's protests, and with the help of Kuwabara's father, Kuwabara Senior, she used her teargems to make jewelry and sold them to stores so they could be purchased by others. Some stores even bought the plain teargems to fashion the jewelry themselves. As Naru said before, though, the price of the teargems had lessened as the gems became more popular in circulation, but they still fetched for a good price, which Yukina and Kuwabara Senior secretly saved for Kuwabara's college tuition (if the teen knew, Kurama was sure he would refuse take it).

He then glanced at the two girls, who continued whispering about the jewelry. "Ugh, they're so pretty!" Minako exclaimed, some frustration in her longing.

"That's usually a good thing," Kurama quipped.

"Well, not if I can't afford it!" she argued, but she glanced at him with a playful smile.

Kurama glanced at the window display, looking as the sun glittered against the pale yellow stones. "Do you like this particular kind of jewelry, Aino-san?"

She giggled. "Well, I like most jewelry, really. But it's such a pretty yellow color."

"Oh? Is yellow your favorite color?"

Minako nodded. "Yeah. That and red."

"Ah. I see."

Nodding again, Minako sighed and turned back to the display. "Man, I would love to have something this pretty!"

"Me too!" Usagi agreed, glancing back at Mamoru.

The dark-haired man cleared his throat as he shifted his weight onto one foot. "We should get going," he murmured.

"Aww!" the girls whined. "Do we have to go now?"

"Probably," Kurama replied, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Besides, staring at the display all day isn't going to help you buy the jewelry, right? So you should break it off now before you get too attached."

The two girls sighed, glancing longingly at the Teardrop jewelry one last time before slowly following the two guys down the street.

Glancing back at the two and seeing they were a good distance back, Kurama then frowned thoughtfully and pulled out his cellphone. "That might do," he said softly, punching in some keys.

"What?" Mamoru said, looking at the other. "You're not thinking of getting her _that_ , are you? It seems a bit expensive."

"Oh don't worry," Kurama replied with a small smile as he put his phone away. "There's no way I'd ever be able to afford to _buy_ something like that."

Just then, all humor drained from his face as a familiar chill ran down his spine, so sudden and unexpected that he stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around, trying to determine where the feeling originated, but the sensation was gone as quickly as it came, and nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye.

"Are you all right?" he heard Mamoru ask beside him. But he didn't answer for a moment, his eyes still scanning the city street around him.

"Minamino-sensei?" Minako questioned softly, and he glanced at the girl, meeting her concerned blue eyes.

"I'm...all right," he finally replied, trying to shake off the feeling. "I just...thought I heard someone call my name."

"You seem a bit shaken up, though," Mamoru said, taking a step towards him as medical instincts began to kick in. "You sure you're okay?"

Kurama nodded. "I'm fine...really. Anyway, we should be going." With that, he turned away from the others and started to head down the street once again.

He felt the others hesitate slightly before moving to follow him, obviously still concerned by his abrupt change in demeanor. But he couldn't tell them what had really happened...he couldn't let them know the feeling he'd had.

It was an all-too familiar sense of a being unlike the regular humans within the city. And while he hoped it was nothing to worry about, he knew he was not mistaken.

He knew now...that he was not the only demon in Tokyo.

* * *

Minako sighed softly as she finally reached the top of the long flight of stairs, looking at the temple grounds curiously. "I wonder why Usagi-chan wanted us to meet here so suddenly. Hopefully everything's okay..." Then she sighed. "Though if she's having a crisis, I wish it could wait until _after_ my birthday..."

So far, her birthday had been less than special, especially when it started with waking up a little late and getting yelled at by her mother. By some miracle, she had made it to school on time, but on a day when Minamino-sensei wasn't teaching there was hardly a point. And though the girls had remembered her birthday and were nice enough to greet her, they were all too busy to do anything to celebrate with her.

She had convinced herself that it was okay though, because she was bound to see Minamino-sensei sometime, and if she told him it was her birthday, maybe he would do something nice for her. She was sure that he'd spend some time with her, at least. Unfortunately, she never even saw him, and after a while she gave up and just went home, where she attempted to do some homework and hung out with Artemis until Usagi called and urgently asked her to come to Rei's temple. She didn't say why or explain what was going on, but she simply said that it was important.

"Of course," Minako said to herself thoughtfully, slowly making her way to the room they always met in when at the temple, "the girls _could_ be throwing a surprise party for me, which is why they all bailed on me earlier. But if that's the case, it's not much of a surprise now...But at least there'll be presents. So I guess it's not too bad."

Standing in front of the door, Minako hesitated when she noticed that the room inside was dark. She couldn't resist rolling her eyes. 'Definitely a surprise party,' she thought. 'Well, at least they were nice enough to make the effort. So I shouldn't disappoint them.' Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she slowly slid the door open.

The lights were suddenly switched on, followed by several popping noises and a storm of colorful confetti that blinded her for a brief moment. Then the confetti rained down, revealing a large white banner hung with colored ribbons, that read "Happy Birthday!" written in big bold letters. Under the banner were her friends, smiling as they stood holding the now-empty poppers.

"Surprise!" the girls exclaimed, popping some unwrapped poppers that she never noticed until then. "Happy birthday, Minako-chan!"

Minako smiled, trying to look as enthusiastic as she could manage. "Oh wow! This is so great! Thanks, you guys!"

"Well, it's good that you like it," a startling well-known voice said, "but it doesn't sound like you're too surprised."

She turned, looking towards the door where the voice came from, her eyes widening when she saw Minamino-sensei standing there, with Mamoru behind him. "Minamino-sensei!" she gasped.

The redhead smiled, slowly entering the room. " _That's_ more like it," he teased.

"What are you doing here?" she wondered, watching him with curious eyes.

"Well, Tsukino-san told me it was your birthday and asked me to come. The girls thought that I should help make your day a little more special."

Eyes brightening, she turned to the other girls. "You guys are the best!" she exclaimed, giving Usagi a tight embrace in her excitement. Then she gave one to Ami, then Makoto.

As she came to Rei, however, she noticed the Mars warrior was once again glaring at Minamino, who was innocently speaking with Mamoru.

"Rei-chan..." Minako groaned softly, tearing violet eyes away from the redhead. "Please _try_ to be nice to him?"

Rei scoffed. "I shouldn't. He's hiding something, I know it." Turning back to Minako, her gaze softened and she smiled. "But I will, since it's your birthday."

Minako squealed softly, giving Rei her embrace. "Thank you, Rei-chan!" Then she turned and hurried over to Minamino's side.

Rei sighed softly, watching her friend talk with the teacher. She knew how much it meant to Minako to have Minamino here, spending some time with her as privately as they could manage. But she also knew that sometime she had to pull Minako aside and tell her about the feeling she'd received earlier that day.

A terrible feeling of foreboding, and the sense that things were suddenly going to go very, very wrong...

* * *

She wasn't sure when it happened, but Minako suddenly noticed that Minamino-sensei wasn't in the room. Somehow, amidst the silly games and overall fun she always had with the girls, Minamino managed to disappear from the small group. Afraid that he had just grown bored and left, she hurried out to find him.

Luckily, she didn't need to look far. She caught sight of him just turning the corner and heading to the back of the temple. Curiously she followed him, and found him simply standing there, looking out at the enclosure.

She slowly approached, not wanting to disturb him. But as she came closer, he glanced in her direction and finally noticed her.

She froze, for a moment unsure of what to do. Then she decided to take a risk and try conversation. "What are you doing out here, Minamino-sensei?"

"I just wanted to take a look around," he replied. Even in the low light of the moon, she could see the playfulness in his smile. "I hope Hino-san won't mind too much."

Emboldened, she came closer and stood next to him. "Oh, she won't mind," she assured him. Mentally, she added, 'Not if _I_ have any say about it.'

With a soft chuckle, he looked back out at the grounds. "If you say so."

They stood quietly together, simply staring out at the temple grounds, and Minako relished the opportunity to spend some real time alone with him. Then he sighed softly, and she glanced at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

He nodded. "I'm all right. I..." He laughed softly. "I was just thinking of home again."

"Oh?" She turned to face him completely. He seemed to think of home a lot when he was with her. "Is there a place like this back in your hometown?"

"Well, not really..." He looked up at the sky. "It's actually really far out of the way, several hours away from any town."

"Really?" She frowned, trying to imagine what it would be like living so far away from anyone. "Does anyone live there?"

"Well, there was an elder woman who used to live there."

"Huh....I wonder why anyone would want to live in such a place far away from people."

Minamino smiled. "She liked her privacy. Plus, it was a nice, quiet place to get some rest when things got a little too busy."

"Did you visit her often?"

His smile disappeared a little, and he looked at the ground just below the wooden floor. "Well, sometimes. We tried to, anyway, if only to keep up the place."

Minako blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well...the woman who owned it the temple and the lands around it passed away last year, and she left all her property to my friends and me. So we go up occasionally to maintain the place and make sure everything's okay."

"Oh..." Minako shifted a little, unsure of what to say after something like that.

Sensing her discomfort, he shook his head. "Forgive me, Aino-san, I shouldn't have - "

"No, it's okay!" she said, waving off his apology with a nervous hand. "I don't mind hearing about your life, Minamino-sensei. And y'know, if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm always willing to listen!"

"Well, thank you, Aino-san," he replied, reaching into his jacket pocket. "But the last thing I should do is bring down the mood on your special day." Pulling out a small black rectangular box, topped with a small red bow, he held it out to the girl.

She blinked again, taking the box curiously. "What's this?"

"Well, I was going to give it to you later when you received your other gifts. But this seemed like an appropriate time."

Fingering the box, she looked up at him. "You didn't have to get me anything, Minamino-sensei!"

He chuckled. "I seem to remember hearing something like that a few weeks ago..."

She blushed slightly. "No, really! I'm just glad you came!"

Smiling, he gently tapped the gift. "Try opening it first, then we'll see if you really feel that way."

Looking at the gift again, Minako slowly opened the box and tilted it so it could catch the moonlight. When it did, her eyes widened. "Is that...?"

Minamino smiled, lifting the teardrop pendant from the box. As it hung from its golden chain, the pale yellow stones glittered. "You really seemed to like it."

She slowly reached up to touch it, as though afraid it would disappear if she did. "Oh, Minamino-sensei...I-I couldn't...This must've cost you a fortune!"

"You let _me_ worry about that," he replied, unhooking the clasp and holding up the necklace. "But I suppose if you don't want it..."

"Uh...well..." She smiled coyly. "I guess if you went through all the trouble of getting it for me..." Turning her back to him, she carefully pulled up her hair.

She shivered a little when she felt his hands brush against the base of her neck, very briefly as he hooked the necklace. When she felt him step back, she let her hair back down and looked at the pendant.

It was only then that she noticed the small yellow porcelain rose resting on the curve of the teardrop, bright against the pale yellow stones. Reaching up, she gently fingered the rose.

"That was a...personal touch," he said with a wink. "Since yellow and roses were both your favorites, I thought you might like it."

"Mmm..." she commented idly.

"Aino-san?" Minamino said, a little curious. "Are you all right?"

Her hand wavered, beginning to feel the weight of the yellow rose. The conversation Minamino-sensei and Makoto had some time ago suddenly echoed in her mind, and her heart started pounding as her anxiety grew.

_Yellow rose...friendship..._

"Aino-san?" Minamino tried again, softer now.

"Minamino-sensei...?" Minako replied just as softly, looking up at him. "Can I ask you something?"

He blinked. "All right."

Fidgeting with her hands, she bit her bottom lip slightly as she tried to think of the right words to say. After a moment, she gave up thinking and just blurted out whatever was on her mind. "How do you feel about me, Minamino-sensei?"

She noticed the way he stiffened, and his eyes grew slightly wider. But it was only a quick flash before his usual reserve concealed it. "What...what do you mean?" he asked, his voice tight and careful.

She sighed, letting her hands drop to her sides. "It's just...I can't tell what you _really_ think of me. I mean, you just gave me expensive jewelry, but it has a yellow rose of _friendship_ on it. Sometimes you act really nice to me, and it's almost like I'm someone special to you. But then you treat me just like all your other students. It's like your trying to spend time with me, to be with me, but I...I don't know...I wasn't sure if you really... _like_ me."

"Aino-san..." Minamino pleaded softly.

She shook her head, brushing her bangs from her watering eyes. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just...getting a little frustrated. I mean, I don't know how you feel about me...and maybe I'll never know. But the truth, Minamino-sensei, is that I - "

Minamino held his hand up. "Wait," he said, in a tone so serious that she had no choice but to stop. She watched as he glanced around, his emerald eyes narrow and wary. He seemed on edge suddenly, and she grew a bit nervous.

"What is it, Minamino-sensei?" she whispered.

"Aino-san..." he said, barely a breath, "I need you to go back inside."

"What? Why?"

"Find the others, stay with them, and all of you stay inside."

She was already sensing there was some kind of danger, but if that was true then she couldn't just leave him by himself. "But, Minamino-sensei...!"

"Aino-san," he said, turning to her. "Please, I need you back inside. Now."

She swallowed, seeing the sternness in his eyes. With a small nod, she turned and headed off, glancing at him once before disappearing.

* * *

"Well, that was sweet...Do you mean to protect her?"

Though the hair on his nape bristled a little, his stoic mask quickly filled his expression as he stood his ground. The voice was male, he could tell that much, but faint, as the speaker was trying to hide his location. "What do you want?" he demanded.

An echoing laugh. "My business is my own."

"Then what are you doing here?" he asked again, turning slowly.

There was a pause, then another laugh. "I was surprised to see someone like _you_ here. I was certain I left all other demons behind when I came here."

The voice was so familiar, but Kurama couldn't quite place it yet. "So...are you one of the demons that started the riot in the Makai?"

A chuckle. "Perhaps."

Slowly, Kurama reached into his hair. "Why are you here?"

"I told you, my business is my own. But if you're as smart as I've heard, you can figure it out yourself."

Suddenly the wind shifted towards Kurama, carrying with it a scent that he hadn't picked up before. He recognized it immediately, and his eyes widened. "No...!"

"Oh yes." A silhouette appeared some distance away from him, and he could make out the pointed ears and a tail split in two. "And once I'm finished with you, that girl is next..."


End file.
